


Phantom of Hope

by TheHood13



Series: Love of Yesterday Series [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon, Canon Compliant, Crossover, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:28:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 47,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26053465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHood13/pseuds/TheHood13
Summary: Several months after his first visit, Oliver returns to Earth-38 to check up on his friends. However, things go horribly wrong when Kara is kidnapped. Initially believing it to be the work of Cadmus, Oliver uncovers something far more sinister and personal at play, with the ensuing events changing his relationship with Kara forever. [Part 3 of the Love of Yesterday Series]
Relationships: Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers & Oliver Queen, Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer, Clark Kent & Oliver Queen, Kara Danvers/Oliver Queen, Oliver Queen & Slade Wilson, Oliver Queen/Kara Zor-El, Roy Harper & Oliver Queen
Series: Love of Yesterday Series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1856701
Comments: 20
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So guys, here it is, the third installment in the 'Love of Yesterday' Series. Before we get started, I just want to give a huge shout-out and a big thank you to my beta for this story, Kara Smoak here on ao3. She has really helped me formulate the direction of this story, and it wouldn't be nearly half as good without her help, ideas and guidance.
> 
> I don't want to spoil, but Oliver won't be the only person from Earth-1 involved in the story, obviously if you look at the tags, you can see which Earth-1 characters will be involved.
> 
> Here is the first chapter, which is more just to set the story up. Don't worry, we'll delve into some action pretty quickly soon. I hope you guys enjoy!

**_(17 May 2017)_ **

_Oliver panted and grunted as he ran through the burning forests of Lian Yu. For the first time in his life, he truly didn't know what to do. Had everyone in his life just perished right in front of him? No, there was no way. They had to have survived. What if they died? What if everything tethering him to this reality had just been taken from him? He ran like a madman, refusing to stop no matter how much his legs ached or his lungs burnt. He'd search every square inch of this island and turn over every fallen tree to find the ones he loved. Samantha had told him to take care of William, but how could he do it by himself?_

_He came to a stop as he saw the vague shape of a woman kneeling down, unable to identify her through the smoke. He continued to step towards her, eventually grabbing her attention when he was just a few meters away._

_"Kara?" said Oliver, as the silhouette of her cape and skirt materialized when she stood up to face him, "What are you doing here?"_

_"I just came to visit and..." She was at a loss for words. She came to Earth-1 just to visit Oliver, but had arrived at the bunker to find no one there. Only a computer screen showing a map of Lian Yu. She arrived just as the explosions went off. Oliver ran towards her, noticing the body that lay on the floor in front of her._

_"No… No!" He screamed as he knelt beside the body. He pressed his fingers against his sister's throat, hoping that he would feel a pulse._

_"She's alive," said Kara, the words coming as a huge relief to Oliver._

_"Where's the others? Dig, Felicity…"_

_"I got them off the island. They're safe," said Kara._

_"Thank you," said Oliver, as he picked up his sister's body from the ground, allowing Kara to grab him and fly off into the night._

* * *

**_[4 MONTHS LATER]_ **

**_(September 24 2017)_ **

Oliver sat quietly next to Thea's bed side in Starling General Hospital. It had been over four months since she first slipped into a coma, and still her condition had barely changed. She was still alive and kicking, but there were very few signs that she could be close to waking up soon. He thought about all Thea had been through, and how most of it had happened due to his actions. By the age of 22, she had endured more than most people would have in their lifetimes. Unfortunately, his sister's life might have been better if he was never in it. He turned his head when he heard the room door open. He was expecting to see Quentin or Diggle, but he was totally surprised to see who entered.

"Roy?" asked Oliver. He hadn't seen him since he asked for his help in stopping Chase on Lian Yu.

"Oliver," replied Roy, who briskly walked towards Oliver and shook his hand. He smiled a little, but the look of worry on his face remained as he looked more closely on Thea, "Any change?"

"She's the same," replied Oliver, "What are you doing here?"

"I haven't been here since the incident. Thought I'd come visit. How are you doing?"

"Well, being a parent is quite possibly the hardest thing I've had to do," replied Oliver.

"William giving you that much trouble?"

"He's… he's still traumatized about what happened. Samantha was all he had, and now she's gone. I don't know how to get through to him."

"Well, if it's any consolation, I have faith that you will. You got through to me when I was on Mirakuru, and I'm pretty sure Mirakuru Rage outranks hormonal teenager."

"You'd be surprised," joked Oliver, "I have to get back to City Hall" said Oliver as he stood up, "How long are you in Star City for?"

"A day, maybe longer."

"Stay a while, spend some time with the team."

"I'll think about it."

"See you around, Roy," said Oliver, before shaking his hand and exiting the room.

* * *

Oliver stepped into the bunker after a couple of hours out in the field. Star City was quiet tonight, oddly. He'd told the team to head home for the night, so he was alone in the bunker. He walked aimlessly to the center as he dwelled in his thoughts. He had thought things would be easier once Adrian Chase was dead, but that hasn't entirely been the case. Apart from trying to raise William, he had to deal with the fallout of Chase's actions as both Mayor and Green Arrow.

The scrutiny over how he had allowed a serial killer to become the DA hadn't died down. It may have been five months since Chase had tortured him, but the weight of what Chase had made him realise still stuck with him. He had earned the hood back, but he still believed that Chase was right in many ways. Oliver somehow could never avoid his past. It would always come back to haunt him, and then it would spill over to the people he loved and hurt them too. Although, there was one place where he never had that feeling… Earth-38.

He reminisced about the time he spent there, how fun it was, and how it made him believe he was a better person than he thought he was. Most of that came crashing down when Chase made him confess, but he still believed that Earth-38 showed him the better side of who he was. More specifically, Kara did. She didn't let him kill Mxyzptlk, and tried to prove to him that he was better. For a while after, he believed her, but now he wasn't so sure. He knew that, deep down, he would've shot that arrow into Mxyzptlk without remorse. He hadn't seen Kara since she saved almost everyone by flying them off Lian Yu.

She had come as simply a friendly visit, but ended up saving the things that mattered most to Oliver. He wondered how she was doing right now. Last he checked, everything was fine on Earth-38. Things were great between her and Mon-El, apart from the fact that he had to reveal he was the Royal Prince of Daxam. He knew Mon-El wasn't a Royal Guard, but he didn't expect him to be a Prince. Still, he was proud of how Mon-El had seemingly grown and started to become the man who he knew he could be.

Suddenly, an idea struck Oliver. He walked over to a cabinet by the salmon ladder in the bunker. He opened the top compartment, and searched for the lone extrapolator amongst the arrowheads. After his trip several months ago, he asked Cisco to give him an extrapolator of his own so that he could visit on his own accord. And now, it seemed like a pretty good time to use it…


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver arrives on Earth-38, and finds out there has been a big change since he was last here.

As soon as he was on the other side of the breach, Oliver was met with a familiar sight… A contingent of DEO agents with Alex Danvers in the center of them, all aiming their guns at him. Alex dropped her gun and sighed in relief when she saw him at the center of the breach. Oliver had spotted J'onn standing behind them, who also immediately relaxed when he saw that it was Oliver.

"Stand down," said Alex, throwing Oliver a mixed look of happiness and annoyance.

"Oliver. It's good to see you again," said J'onn as he walked over toward Oliver.

"You too, J'onn," replied Oliver as they shook hands.

"What's wrong, do you need our help?" asked Alex, automatically assuming that something was wrong. Then again, he was still in his suit and was carrying his bow with him, so it was not a surprise that he gave that illusion.

"Nothing. I just thought I'd pop by. You know, as a friend."

"Well, then I gladly welcome you back to Earth-38." Oliver recognised the high-pitched voice immediately, turning around to see Winn smiling like a geek.

"Good to see you too Winn," replied Oliver, shaking Winn's hand as well. Within a second, the sound of a whoosh came from the balcony of the DEO, as Kara landed.

"Oliver!" she called out, almost running towards him and giving him a hug which he gladly accepted. A hug that he needed right now, "I'm so happy to see you."

"Me too. Hey, where's Mon-El? Is he not here at the moment?" asked Oliver. He was confused when he spotted the reserved looks of everybody around him, particularly the look of sorrow on Kara's face. The awkward silence pestered for several seconds before Alex broke it.

"It's a long story, we can tell it to you another time," said Alex, drawing a nod from Oliver. Her words implied that Mon-El wasn't dead, but the looks on their faces said otherwise. Suddenly, the red alert light started flickering and a beeping sound emanated through the room. A grayscale digital map popped up on the large monitors of the DEO, with a blue dot flickering across multiple locations on the map, "What's happening?" asked Alex.

"We've been monitoring all suspected and confirmed members of Cadmus since they went into hiding a few months ago. We've just picked up Hank Henshaw's digital cyborg signature," replied Winn.

"Hank Henshaw is here in National City?" replied Kara.

"Makes sense. We've been hitting suspected Cadmus warehouses pretty hard since they went dark. He could be here to check up on assets for Lillian," replied Alex.

"Could be, but why expose himself now? He and Lillian have been off the radar for several months," asked Kara.

"Wait, why is it doing that?" asked Alex, as the blue dot of Henshaw's location continued to change and move between various locations in National City.

"He's trying to mask himself by corrupting his digital signature, making it appear that he's in multiple locations," replied Winn as he typed into his computer, "He's definitely in the vicinity of National City, we just don't know exactly where."

"Can you find him, Agent Schott?" asked J'onn.

"Yes but it's going to take me a while. Cadmus' IT department aren't slouches anymore," joked Winn.

"Well, when you find his location, let us know," said Oliver.

"Us?" said Kara, out of surprise.

"I know I just came here to visit but if this is a chance to deal a devastating blow to Cadmus, I'll gladly help," said Oliver.

"Supergirl-Green Arrow team up? Awesome" remarked Winn with child-like joy, drawing a half-smile from Oliver.

* * *

20 minutes later, and still no change. Winn was working hard to try crack the disruption code Cadmus had put in place, and although it was taking him a while, he remained calm and patient. Oliver studied Kara for several minutes as she stood on the balcony of the DEO by herself, just like how he'd seen her do several months ago when Lena was framed. Team Arrow may have told him that he liked to brood down in the bunker, but the balcony of the DEO seemed to be the place where Kara Danvers languished in her thoughts. He was sure she was probably thinking of Mon-El. He left Winn's side and walked over to the balcony.

"You know, I'm usually the one who does the brooding, not you," joked Oliver as he walked up beside her.

"Sorry. Just got a lot on my mind," she replied, forcing a smile on to her face.

"I don't want to be insensitive… but what happened to Mon-El?" asked Oliver. The look of sorrow on Kara's face as she glanced over at him was one that he had never seen before from her. He'd seen such a look before, one on people who had suffered tremendous losses… it was a look he saw often when he looked at himself in the mirror.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before replying to him.

"About four months ago, Mon-El's mother, the Queen of Daxam showed up. Long story short, she basically wanted to take over Earth and turn it into New Daxam. So she launched a full-scale war, starting right here in National City. The only way to stop the Daxamite invasion was to dispense lead into the atmosphere to drive them away, and that… affected Mon-El too…" Oliver closed his eyes momentarily and clenched his fist, knowing exactly where this was headed, "I had to choose between the lives of… everyone… or my love for Mon-El. We sent him on a pod to outer space, and we tried tracking it, but it's disappeared. That was the last we saw of him" finished Kara, as she wiped the tears that started to form in her eyes.

Oliver too was feeling extremely dejected and disappointed. Not only was the whole situation extremely disturbing, but he was actually hoping to see Mon-El when he decided to come here. He wanted to see how much more he'd grown, and not only that, Oliver enjoyed his company tremendously. Mon-El had the playfulness and charisma of a younger version of him, but too had the will and desire to make a meaningful difference just like Oliver does now. Now, he was God knows where in the cosmos. He didn't like the thought of it, but it was possible that he was dead.

It hurt Oliver even more to see how the situation affected Kara. He knew that they both truly loved each other. The pain of having someone you loved being ripped away was almost unbearable. It had happened so many times to Oliver that he thought he'd become numb to it, but it hurt just as bad every time. He hated to see Kara, a paragon of hope and light standing so broken in front of him. He didn't know how to comfort her, but he tried anyways, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Kara… if you need me, I'm here for you," he said.

"Thank you" she replied, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes. Suddenly, they heard Winn scream in excitement. He cracked the code.

* * *

"We've supposedly tracked Henshaw to a government facility a few miles out from the city," said J'onn, as Oliver, Kara and Alex stood with J'onn at the control hub of the DEO.

"Supposedly?" asked Kara, out of confusion.

"It's an old abandoned facility, out of service for years. It's unlikely that there's anything there that will be of use to Cadmus," explained J'onn, "Which begs the question, why is he there?"

"It was an old research facility. Maybe he's looking for something really specific. Blueprints? Files? Equipment?" suggested Alex.

"It doesn't matter why he's there. If he's there, then we have to take him out. Why do you seem so apprehensive J'onn?" asked Kara, slightly surprising Oliver with her bluntness.

"I don't know. Something about it seems odd."

"What do you think Oliver?" asked Kara, causing all of them to turn towards him.

"I think you're right. If he's there, we have to strike," replied Oliver. J'onn contemplated Oliver's words before making his final decision. He clearly respected Oliver's intuition and gut, and was taking it into consideration here.

"Alright then. I'll prep Strike Team Alpha. We roll out in 15 minutes."

They all turned around to move their separate ways and ready themselves for the raid. Oliver started to walk away, but Kara quickly caught up to him and called his name.

"Hey, Oliver," she said as she came up behind him, causing him to turn around and face her.

"Yeah," he replied as he turned to face her.

"I have something I want to show you," she said. Oliver followed her as he walked with her upstairs. They entered the conference room, where there was a flat, trapezium-shaped metal case placed on the table, "It's just a little gift I had Winn make for you."

"What is it?" asked Oliver, despite having already guessed what was inside due to the shape of the box.

"Open it," said Kara, who was practically bubbling with excitement as Oliver took a step towards it, and unlatched the hinges. Kara couldn't help but grin as Oliver placed his Oneida Kestrel compound bow on the table, and picked up the new black recurve bow.

"It's lined with Nth metal," said Kara, as Oliver inspected every inch of it, from the riser all the way to the tips of the limbs. The design of it made it look every futuristic, almost as if someone had taken his first recurve bow and made it better in every conceivable way. He twisted it around in his hand, and moved it to his side. It was perfectly balanced, "What do you think?" asked Kara.

"It's perfect."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara gifts Oliver a new bow! It's basically the bow he used in S6 and S7, the only difference being the Nth metal composition. We're already heading into action in the next chapter, and we're going to meet the big bad of the story!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heading straight into the action, Oliver and Kara attempt to bring Cyborg Superman to justice.

Oliver carefully treaded through the forest surrounding the facility, momentarily wondering what had gotten into him when he said he'd join this mission. He wondered how severe the consequences would be back on Earth-1 if something happened to him here. However, the red and blue blur above him quickly reminded him that he was with Kara. After all, what could go wrong when you had Supergirl covering your back? Alex was leading Strike Team Alpha who were infiltrating from the other side of the building. He reached a clearing just in front of the mesh fence surrounding the facility, staying at the edge of the forest to remain out of sight. None of the lights outside of the building were on, but Oliver still had a clear view of vantage points that guard soldiers would use.

"No hostiles on the roof," said Oliver over the comms.

_"Same here, Green Arrow,"_ replied Alex, _"Supergirl?"_

"Nothing," replied Kara, as she levitated in the sky, observing the entire facility with a birds eye view, "I can't look inside either. The building is lined with lead." Oliver glanced at the GPS device that they were all given before. It showed the blue dot of Hank Henshaw's location. Its position hadn't changed.

"Henshaw is still in the building. We proceed as planned," said Oliver.

_"Copy,"_ replied Alex. He was surprised to see how willing the DEO was to follow his lead. It wasn't his Earth, nor was he a DEO agent, but they had the utmost respect for him considering the things he did the last time he was on Earth-38. Kara descended, joining Oliver on the ground just in front of the mesh fence. She used her heat vision to burn a large hole in the fence for them to walk through. They made their way side by side to the door in front of them, keeping a vigilant eye on the abandoned vehicles and machines scattered around them. Oliver nocked an arrow and aimed it at the door before Kara opened it. She pushed it open, and unlike outside, the light shone through.

The facility was worn down for sure, as the lights were dimming and flickering, but the fact that they were on meant that someone was definitely here. He and Kara silently walked through the many hallways of the building, making their way towards the GPS location of Henshaw.

"Alpha, any update?" asked Oliver.

_"Negative. This place is dead."_

The stark silence of the facility worried Kara. Despite her super-hearing, she could hear nothing besides the electric circuits of the lights and faintly Alex's team moving through the other side of the facility. The blue dot on the GPS was moving slightly, indicating smaller movements that would be common of one in a room. After 5 minutes of walking, the GPS led Kara and Oliver to a locked double door. A few seconds later, Alex and Alpha Team met them there.

"It looks like Henshaw is the only one in here," said Alex, before she turned to the double door, "Steel doors reinforced with titanium… Explosive breaches won't work."

"Luckily, you have me," replied Kara, "Get behind me." The agents readied their weapons once more while Oliver nocked an explosive arrow. They waited a second before Kara threw an earth-shattering punch that sent both doors flying away, breaking off their hinge. They moved in swiftly behind her, entering into a dark hall which was littered with boxes and stored sandbags. The lights weren't on, and they couldn't see anybody, but the GPS said Henshaw was here. They turned in all directions, examining every single inch of the space in front of them.

"What the hell? GPS said he was here," said Alex, "Winn, you tracked him here!" screamed Alex into the comms.

_"I… I did."_

The tension in the room was palpable as they all turned in every direction, trying to look for anything that indicated Henshaw's presence.

"Something's wrong," said Oliver, drawing the attention of Kara. Kara listened intensely, believing that her super hearing was picking up the faint sound of clicks, "It's a trap!" screamed Oliver, just as an explosion went off by the opposite doors in the hall. A hole burst through the ceiling, with Hank Henshaw falling right in between Kara and Oliver as the bright white lights turned on, blinding them. Henshaw quickly threw a backhand at Oliver, knocking him several meters away from Kara. A platoon of Cadmus agents entered from the breach, firing their weapons immediately. They wounded several DEO agents, while forcing the rest of them including Oliver and Alex to take cover behind the sandbags.

Henshaw engaged in a tussle of strength with Kara for a few seconds before the sound of a bow cracked out, before an arrow penetrated Kara's back. She yelled out in pain, and within another second, another arrow was fired. This one landed on the floor next to her, bursting into a green gas which surrounded her. She dropped to a knee immediately and began choking. She started coughing viciously as her veins started to glow green.

"Kara?" called out Oliver concernedly. Henshaw then threw a brutal punch at her, knocking her completely to the floor. Oliver looked to the source of the arrows… A tall Caucasian man, clad in an all-black attire. The tight fitting sleeveless tactical vest displayed his extraordinary, lean physique, with his face covered by a mask and a hood draping over his head further concealing his identity. Oliver could only look at the man's eyes, which were dead-focused on him.

He rose from behind his cover, firing several arrows at the archer and the other Cadmus agents in front of him. They were severely outnumbered. He watched as Henshaw lifted Kara up onto his shoulders and made his way to the exit with a number of the Cadmus agents, the black-clad archer following behind him as well. That evened the numbers a bit. He had to find a way to get to Kara. He scouted the hall around him, looking for any other exits or ways out. None. He'd be shot before he could reach any door. There was only one way out… Up. He fired a couple of more arrows before turning back to Alex who was next to him.

"Cover me! I'm going after Kara!" screamed Oliver over the chaos.

"How?!" she screamed back. He didn't reply with his words. He simply turned around and nocked a grappling arrow before pointing it upwards at the hole where Henshaw had dropped down from. Alex realised what he was doing, and quickly sprung up to provide covering fire for him as Oliver zipped up on to the upper floor. He found himself in another room, an office of sorts. He ran straight for the door out of the room to his left. Chances were that they were taking Kara to the roof, where a helicopter would be waiting for them. He whipped out the GPS, but Henshaw's location was scrambling again.

"Winn? Winn?!" screamed Oliver. Comms were dead. He ran through the building, attempting to navigate his way to the roof. Eventually, the sounds of the firefight were gone, being replaced by the faint sounds of footsteps. Oliver moved towards them rigorously. The only thing that mattered to him in this moment was getting to Kara. He found himself walk into a hallway leading to the door to the roof, but was met with the sight of the platoon of Cadmus agents heading towards it, with Henshaw and the archer leading them.

He fired an explosive arrow at them, incapacitating several Cadmus agents. They all turned to face him, and he sprinted towards them, firing every arrow he had in his arsenal. He saw Henshaw and the archer exit to the roof, with the last few Cadmus agents blocking Oliver's pathway to the door. Four of them remained, but before they could shoot Oliver, he was already in front of them. He slapped the first one across the face with his bow, before punching the next in the throat. The tight confines of the hallway prevented the Cadmus agents from using their numbers against him. The Cadmus agents were skilled, but they couldn't stop Oliver. He incapacitated the last two remaining agents with vicious kicks to the head. He stepped over their bodies and kicked the door to the roof open. There was the vehicle, about 50 meters away from him… it wasn't a helicopter… it was a jet. A jet that looked unlike any he'd seen before, one that looked like it was a cross with a small aeroplane.

His eyesight narrowed to in front of the jet… the masked archer, standing several meters in front of it. Oliver quickly nocked an arrow and fired it, but the archer returned fire with one of his own, knocking Oliver's out of the air. They both ran towards each other, each firing several more arrows and each knocking the others out of the air, reminding Oliver of his fight with Merlyn on the night of The Undertaking. Eventually close enough to one another, Oliver swung his bow full forced at the other archer, who raised his own bow to block the strike. Oliver fully expected his Nth Metal bow to destroy or at least damage the other bow, but he was shocked to see the archer's bow withstand the force of Oliver's Nth Metal bow.

They engaged in a hand to hand duel, each of them throwing their fists, swinging their bows and whipping out their legs in attempts to wound the other one. With each strike thrown and maneuver made, Oliver began to feel something which he hadn't felt since he had fought Ra's Al Ghul after making The Climb. This archer was not only unbelievably skilled, but he just seemed faster, stronger and more durable than Oliver. The margin between them wasn't very big, but it was enough to make a significant difference in the fight. For every mistake that Oliver made, a loss of footing or a missed punch, he was made to pay by receiving a painful blow from the archer. He began to feel helpless as the archer began to read him like book.

A right hook from Oliver, slipped by the archer and countered with a punch of his own. A body kick from Oliver, and the archer caught it before throwing a powerful kick in return. The placement and power of the strikes began to take their toll on Oliver, as his body began to ache in every place he was struck.

He desperately swung his bow around to strike the archer's head, but he ducked under it, sliding behind Oliver and swinging his bow into the back of Oliver's leg. Oliver dropped onto one knee, with the archer quickly getting back up and swinging his bow with tremendous force into Oliver's left arm, causing Oliver to groan in pain and drop his bow.

"I must say, I expected more from the Green Arrow" said the archer mockingly. Oliver jumped back to his feet, attempting to throw several more strikes. They were all easily evaded by the archer, who replied with a spinning back kick to the gut. Oliver bent over in pain, unable to catch his breath before he was hit with a tremendous uppercut which knocked him back onto the ground, "You should know that what is going to happen to her, is your fault!" screamed the archer, as he mounted Oliver, throwing several more punches into Oliver's gut before alternating the strikes to Oliver's head.

The archer mercilessly pulled Oliver back up to his feet, turning him around and placing him in a standing rear naked choke. Oliver did his best to fight the choke, trying to drag the archer's arms down and elbow him in the stomach. None of it worked. The vision in Oliver's eyes began to fade as he felt his consciousness slipping away from him. The archer had an unbelievable squeeze, one that could surely crush Oliver's windpipe. Through his faded vision, Oliver faintly saw several figures in black move out from the door leading to the room. He was surprised when the archer let go of his neck, dropping Oliver back down to the floor as Oliver heard him fire an arrow, followed by a loud disorientating bang.

"Next time, you won't be so lucky!" growled the archer, as he threw one last kick into Oliver's ribs before turning around and running towards the jet. As Oliver slowly regained his strength and vision, he saw that the black figures were Alex and several other DEO agents. He rose to his feet and stumbled towards the jet, trying to jump to the cockpit. It was about to take off, the sounds of the engines firing up becoming louder and louder. Oliver desperately pushed every fibre of his being into every step, attempting to ignore the aching of his muscles every time he moved. The jet slowly started to lift up, and there was only one way he was going to stop it. Within meters of the jet, he attempted to lunge towards the pilot door, but he barely had the strength to do so. He collapsed in front of the jet, watching as bullets being fired from behind him hit the aircraft to no avail.

"No…" The word whimpered out of Oliver's mouth as he registered the one final look of indifference the masked archer gave him as the jet blasted off, travelling further and further away as Oliver lost consciousness and slumped to the floor.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver realises that he'll need all the help he can get to save Kara, and calls in a few friends of his from Earth-1.

Oliver gasped as he came back to consciousness, the first thought on his mind being Kara. He immediately tried sitting up, but an agonising pain in his stomach flared up as he groaned in agony. He suddenly felt a hand on his left shoulder gently pushing him back down.

"Easy, Oliver. Easy…"

"Kara… Kara, I have to get her," groaned Oliver, as he continued to struggle to sit up.

"Oliver, relax. You're back at the DEO. It's me, Diggle." Oliver calmed down as he saw Diggle standing over him to his left. He stopped trying to get up as his surroundings slowly became more familiar. He was in the med-bay of the DEO, lying on a bed. His left arm was bandaged and in a sling. He surveyed the room around him, seeing who else was there. J'onn was standing by the door, while Winn and Felicity were standing to his right.

"Oliver! Thank God you're okay," said Felicity, as she rushed to his side.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Oliver.

"After what happened, Winn came to fetch us, and told us everything. You've been out for four hours," replied Diggle. Oliver nodded, before turning his attention to J'onn.

"What happened? Where's Kara?" asked Oliver towards J'onn.

"We don't know. We lost track of the jet," replied J'onn. Oliver felt his rage and anger boil up inside of him once again.

"Come on, we have to get her!" groaned Oliver as he tried sitting up once again, only to be pushed back down by Diggle.

"Oliver, you're in no shape to go out there," said Diggle sternly. Oliver would have continued to try get up, but the pain in his stomach was becoming unbearable. He reluctantly lied in place, furious that he was unable to do anything.

"We have every satellite, every camera, every phone, anything that has a lens on it searching for her," said Winn, "Trust me, we're going to find her."

"Where's Alex?" asked Oliver.

"She's obviously taking it hard. Her sister has just been kidnapped and she doesn't know what to do besides throw herself into her work," replied J'onn.

"This is all my fault," said Oliver regretfully.

"Now is not the time to blame yourself Oliver," said Diggle, "You've taken a beating. Two of your ribs are fractured and your arm is bruised up pretty bad but the DEO is patching you up. You'll be out of here by the end of today as long as you stay put. Do you understand?" Oliver nodded, acknowledging Diggle's request, "Good. Felicity and I have to head back to Earth-1. As far as Star City knows, the Mayor has called in sick for today. Is that okay?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Just take it easy man. They'll find her," said Diggle before he exited the room.

"Get better, okay?" said Felicity, as she gently hugged Oliver before exiting the room as well. Oliver spoke up as they left the room.

"Do you know who the masked archer is?" asked Oliver as he looked at Winn.

"Unfortunately, no. No leads either," replied Winn, "If you want, we can administer a mild opioid to help with the pain" he said, as he saw Oliver wince as he tried to adjust himself to a more comfortable position on the bed.

"Make that a strong opiod," requested Oliver.

"Alright, I'll have the doc come up and do it," said Winn, as he and J'onn left the room to give Oliver some peace.

* * *

**_[UNDISCLOSED LOCATION]_ **

Lillian Luthor walked towards the stealth jet that just landed in front of her on the helipad of the large mountain-side facility. She smiled as she watched the masked archer tread towards her with Supergirl's unconscious body draped over his left shoulder.

"Excellent work," she said, as she came face to face with him, "I trust that you are going to keep up your end of your deal."

"Supergirl will be dealt with," replied the man, his voice modulator making him sound much more threatening than Lillian in the moment, "But only after I have what I want."

"I must say, your vendetta with this Green Arrow is ill-justified."

"No more so than your vendetta with Supergirl."

"Touché. In truth, she may be more valuable alive than dead for now. Nonetheless, I look forward to continuing to work with you," said Lillian, extending her hand.

"Likewise, Ms Luthor," replied the man, as he flung his bow onto his right shoulder, and reciprocated the handshake.

* * *

A few hours had passed, and thankfully, Oliver was now finally able to get out of bed on his own. The perks of sharing a planet with aliens meant that alien technology was readily available. The DEO med-bay was more sophisticated than anything on Earth-1. It was akin to the med-bay on the Waverider. The bruise on his arm was already starting dissipate and he removed the sling, but the pain in his ribs were still prominent. It was at least bearable, especially now that the opioid had fully kicked in. He saw his suit jacket, his two bows and an extrapolator on the bed next to him. He placed the jacket around his shoulders without zipping it up before picking up his compound bow and the extrapolator and exiting the med-bay.

He walked downstairs, and spotted Alex pacing back and forth by the control hub, giving orders to several agents. She was clearly distraught, and Oliver couldn't bear to come face to face with her right now. He pressed the button on the extrapolator, walking through the breach and finding himself back in the middle of The Bunker on Earth-1, alone. Nobody else was there. He picked up his phone next to a computer, placing it in his pocket before walking off the main platform aimlessly.

For the past few hours, everything had felt surreal, like he was in a dream. The reality of what had occurred was starting to become real to him as he could no longer contain his rage and guilt. He swung his bow into the concrete pillar next to him out of frustration. He swung it with so much force that the entire bow came undone. The limbs broke off as the riser shattered into multiple pieces. He slumped down onto the floor, sitting against the concrete pillar. The fragments of his bow lay all around him as he withered away in his thoughts.

He was feeling full responsibility for Kara's kidnapping. The archer had told him that it was his fault that this was happening. Could the archer be someone from Earth-1? Or did Oliver screw something up the last time he was on Earth-38? Either way, Oliver had still failed to beat the archer and stop the jet from taking off. Too many times in his life had people suffered because of his failures, but this one was about to push him over the edge. Earth-1 Kara Danvers died because Oliver failed to stop The Undertaking and now Kara Zor-El was in the hands of Cadmus, who were doing God knows what to her. Oliver's inner demons were beginning to wrestle with his mind, as he started to hear Adrian Chase's voice repeat to Oliver what he already knew… Everyone close to him suffered. Oliver couldn't simply accept that this time. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, entering his contact list and scrolling down to the letter S. He was going to save Kara, no matter the cost.

* * *

Slade Wilson sat by the table in his motel room in Calgary, Canada. The intel that Oliver had given him on Joe was useful, but finding contacts who would be willing to speak with him was the difficult part. He was laying low at the moment, as he didn't know whether ASIS was hunting him or not. Oliver had gotten Lyla to no longer classify Slade as a threat to ARGUS, but that didn't mean other agencies didn't want Slade to be held responsible for his crimes. He was still surprised to have found out that Joe had followed in his footsteps and joined ASIS. Slade being an ASIS agent was one of the factors that led to the downfall of his marriage, so he was sure Adeline wasn't keen on her son joining the same profession. Suddenly, his phone started ringing. He pulled it out, and recognised the number immediately.

"Hey kid," he said as he answered.

_"Slade. I'm sorry. I wish I could be calling under better circumstances."_

"What's wrong?"

_"Supergirl has been kidnapped."_

"What?"

_"She's been taken by an organisation named Cadmus… On her Earth."_

"What do you need from me, kid?"

_"I need you to come with me to her Earth and help me find her. It may take a while. I'm sorry that I have to keep asking favours of you, but I'm desperate."_

"Kid, after all that's happened, I'll forever be in your debt."

_"Where are you?"_

"Calgary. I can get to Star City in less than 5 hours."

_"Don't worry about that. I have a contact who can pick you up as soon as you're ready. How long do you need to get ready?"_

"An hour."

_"Alright. Thank you Slade."_

"You can thank me after Kara is safe again. Is anyone else joining us on this mission?"

_"I have a couple of other people in mind."_

* * *

"So, this Kryptonite? It just takes away her powers?" asked Roy, who was packing his bags next to Oliver in the Bunker. Oliver had summoned the rest of the team too, filling them in on what had happened and what he was planning to do. While Roy was more than willing to help find Kara, the thought of travelling to a parallel universe both freaked him out and made him excited at the same time.

"Yep, and it could do a lot worse," replied Oliver, as he zipped up the two bags that contained everything he would need for the trip on Earth-38. He'd used the 'spiritual retreat' excuse again to explain his absence for the next two weeks to City Council.

"You sure you don't want us to come with you, Hoss?" asked Rene.

"I need you guys to stay here in Star City and make sure everything is fine until I get back. Dig is going to be the Green Arrow while I'm gone," replied Oliver.

"Right. Can't have Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow both mysteriously disappearing at the same time again," quipped Felicity.

"I know you're taking Roy, but don't you think you're gonna need all the help you can get?" asked Rene.

"Yes. That's why I've called in more help," replied Oliver.

"Who?" Just as Rene finished his sentence, a breach opened up in front of the elevator door. After a couple of seconds, Cisco jumped through with Slade Wilson and Nyssa Al Ghul, "Oh, I see."

"Sorry for being a little late," apologised Cisco, as he removed his Reverb glasses while walking with Slade and Nyssa to the center of the Bunker.

"It's ok Cisco," said Oliver, before turning to Slade and Nyssa, "Thank you both for coming."

"She saved our lives four months ago. The least we can do is save hers" said Nyssa. Oliver nodded before speaking up once again.

"We're ready, Cisco," said Oliver, as he picked up his two bags while Cisco opened another breach in the center of the Bunker. Oliver turned to look at Team Arrow, feeling confident that they'd be able to take care of Star City while he was gone, before he walked through the breach with Nyssa, Slade and Roy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara meets the man who has taken her hostage, and the heroes from Earth-1 arrive at the DEO.

_**[UNDISCLOSED LOCATION]** _

As she regained her consciousness, Kara slowly opened her eyes as a stark white light blinded her. She tried to sit up and move her body, but found herself unable to. Her eyes began to adjust to the light and she managed to look to her sides and see her arms and feet tied to the operating table she was lying on. She was no longer in her suit, now in a hospital gown with her feet bare.

The air felt heavy, and she began coughing once again, causing the left side of her face to ache while she felt a sharp pain in her back as she moved. That's where she was shot with the arrow. How someone got their hands on not just a kryptonite arrow, but also managed to turn kryptonite into a gas astounded her. The DEO thought they had given all the kryptonite to Clark, but it turns out, Cadmus managed to get their hands on more… a lot more.

With her eyes fully adjusted, she looked around to the rest of the room. She was shocked to see absolutely nothing around her. It was all just… plain white. The only stimulus in the room were the standing lamps placed in the corners, each of them emanating a green glow from the light bulb… kryptonite lamps. With all of her powers sapped, she was helpless, unable to break free from her restraints.

Suddenly, the door on the left side of the room opened, and in stepped a middle-aged man whom she didn't recognise. He was dressed in all-black, wearing a long black trench coat with black gloves and black jeans. With his blue eyes, his blonde spiked crew cut hair and a goatee, it was impossible to deny his good looks, but Kara felt nothing for him as he walked into the room with a half-smile. He was an athletic man, with Kara noting he was about the same size and build as Oliver.

"Hello, Miss Zor-El," he said, smiling as he stood in front of the operating table.

"Who are you?"

"You don't know who I am?" he replied, acting surprised, "I thought you would. My name is Simon Lacroix. CEO of Stellmoor International."

"What do you want from me?" asked Kara, "Why are you working with Cadmus?"

"Cadmus and I possess a mutually beneficial relationship, and, well... I want the same thing that everybody wants in life… enlightenment. True enlightenment," he replied, as he walked Kara, "But right now, it isn't about what I want. It's about what I need."

"Which is?"

"Two things. One, A fresh Kryptonian body, for research" he replied, as he walked to right beside her, "And it looks like I have a lovely, dainty Kryptonian lying helplessly in front of me. A perfect specimen… and I mean perfect…" he said, as he stroked her cheek with his hand, causing her to whip her head away.

"And the other?" asked Kara, leaning her head as far away from his hand as possible.

"The Green Arrow."

Kara's heart skipped a beat as Lacroix mentioned Oliver. What could Lacroix possibly have against him?

"Cadmus wants you dead. I'm the only reason you're still alive right now, Kara," he continued as he walked away from her, "Trust me, I really don't want to hurt you, so let me offer you something which can make all of this easier for you."

"What do you want?"

"I've spent many years searching for a totem, which would provide me with what I seek. I invested countless hours of time, spent millions of dollars trying to find it. Six months ago, I found the map to it. Finally, my life's work would have counted for something… until the Green Arrow sabotaged one of my operations, inadvertently burning the map to it to ashes. I promise you, I will make my work as painless as possible. All you need to do, is tell me who he is."

"Go to hell."

"I thought you were going to say that," he replied regretfully. He reached into an inside pocket of his coat, pulling out a white, large oval-shaped pill, "This… is Neurophase Exotron. I have a simpler name for it… Vertigo. It overloads the neurons in the areas of your brain which are responsible for time perception, thus your sense of time is severely distorted."

His demeanour changed in an instant as he dropped the 'nice guy' act, with the anger on his face becoming prominent for the first time. He grabbed Kara's face, squeezing her cheeks in and forcing her mouth open. She tried fighting him, but being tied up and powerless, she was unable to as he placed the pill in her mouth. She coughed and choked from the pill until there were tears in her eyes, only stopping the coughing once the pill was down her throat.

"Your time here is going to be a living hell until I get what I want, Kara!" said Lacroix, forcefully holding her face to look at his, "You think you've felt pain before? When I'm done with you, I'll have you begging for something as sweet as pain!"

Kara flinched as he let go of her face and turned around to walk out of the room. She had been scared before in her life, on more than one occasion, but for the first time, she was truly terrified as she closed her eyes, and prayed to Rao that her friends would find her soon.

* * *

_**(The DEO - National City)** _

After stepping through the breach, Oliver was surprised to see not a single DEO agent pointing a gun at him or his crew. He figured they must have thought it was just Oliver returning and not anyone that was a threat to them. Still, he spotted a couple of cautious faces eyeing his team down. The DEO knew full well about Oliver, but they were unfamiliar with the new faces that he was bringing. Roy and Nyssa didn't seem threatening enough, but perhaps Slade was quite intimidating. Alex spotted Oliver and them, sharing a confused look with much of her co-workers as she walked towards them.

"Uhh, hey Oliver, you're back," said Alex as she approached them.

"Alex. I've brought some friends of mine that are going to help us find Kara," replied Oliver.

"Oh, ok," replied Alex, still on edge about Kara's whereabouts.

"This is Roy Harper. Nyssa Al Ghul…" started explaining Oliver.

"Raatko," said Nyssa, correcting Oliver.

"Right, and Slade Wilson," continued Oliver.

"I can't thank you all enough for coming," said Alex appreciatively, "I take it you're all going to be staying for a while?" asked Alex, drawing a nod from all four of them, "Ok, great. I'll escort you guys to your rooms. You'll be staying at the DEO for now."

"The DEO?" asked Roy.

"I'll explain everything later," said Oliver, as he walked with them to their quarters.

* * *

Oliver had taken the same room which he had used the last time he was on Earth-38. After placing his bags in the room, he walked to the main control hub while Roy, Nyssa and Slade were given a tour of the place by Agent Vasquez. It had been over 18 hours since Kara was kidnapped. If Winn said they were monitoring like how he said they were, they ought to have something, anything by now. He walked up next to Winn, who was furiously typing into his computer.

"Any leads?" asked Oliver.

"Not really," replied Winn, "We're scanning for everything. Solar radiation spikes, kryptonite signatures…"

"Right, they used kryptonite before, they must have more stored somewhere," continued Oliver.

"Precisely. By the way, is that Team Arrow?" asked Winn out of excitement.

"Not exactly," replied Oliver bleakly, "What about the archer? Anything on him?"

"Yes, actually," replied Winn, as he opened up several blurry pictures of the archer and displayed them on the big screen for Oliver to see, "He's been around for years, making sporadic appearances in numerous locations all over the world, China, South Africa, Dagestan. Credited with various assassinations. Codename: Komodo"

"Komodo?"

"Yeah."

"I might know who he is," said Oliver, remembering his encounter with Komodo on Earth-1, "Search for any mercenaries named Simon Lacroix." Oliver noted that the Komodo on Earth-1 had a number of differences to the one on the screen in front of him, including the fact that the Komodo of Earth-1 was a black man, not a Caucasian. Still, it was worth a shot.

"There's a few Simon Lacroixs, but none of them match the description for Komodo," stated Winn as he searched through the profiles, drawing a disappointed sigh from Oliver.

Oliver heard a faint woosh coming from the balcony of the DEO, and turned to see who it was. A small part of him was hopeful that it was perhaps Kara, who had managed to escape on her own, but he knew that wasn't likely. Instead of it being Supergirl, he was met with the sight of… Superman? The dark-haired, muscular man walked towards the control hub of the DEO with a sense of purpose and vigour. Just from the way he walked, Oliver could tell he was a man of determination and justice. He hadn't met Clark the previous time he was on Earth-38, but now seemed to be a pretty good time to.

"Anything?" asked Winn, drawing a somber shake of the head from Clark.

"I've scanned the whole area within a 50 mile radius of National City. Couldn't find anything," replied Clark, causing Winn to punch his hand out of disappointment. Clark noticed Oliver standing next to Winn, and decided to introduce himself, "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met before."

"We haven't. Oliver Queen," replied Oliver, extending a hand for Clark to shake.

"Ah yes, Kara's friend from a parallel universe. Clark Kent, her cousin," replied Clark, as he shook Oliver's friend.

"I wish we could be meeting under better circumstances," said Oliver, drawing an agreeing nod from him.

"Thank you for being here and offering your help, Oliver," said Clark appreciatively.

"She's my friend. I'll do whatever it takes to bring her back home," replied Oliver.

"That makes two of us," replied Clark, "Anyway, I'm going to head out there again," he said, before bursting off flying back out of the DEO.

"Were you puffing out your chest?" asked Winn, having noticed the change in Oliver's body language when Clark walked in.

"No," replied Oliver sternly, scowling at Winn.

* * *

"What are your codenames again?" asked Winn, clearly fanboying over the makeshift Team Arrow before him.

"Arsenal."

"Deathstroke."

"Just call me Nyssa."

"Awesome," said Winn, as he continued to stare at the three of them until a notification started beeping on his screen.

"What's going on?" asked Roy, thinking that perhaps they found a lead on Kara.

"Ah, shoot. It's just a bank robbery," said Winn, disappointed that it wasn't anything related to Kara, "Superman has gone back to Metropolis, but fear not, Guardian is on his way to the scene."

"Tell him to fall back," said Oliver, as he walked up behind them, suited up and carrying his bow with him, "I'll handle it."

"Why?" asked Winn, confused, "Guardian is more than capable of taking care these guys."

"I know. Just let me handle this," requested Oliver, before heading towards the balcony of the DEO. His agitated and frustrated demeanour had been noticed by them, and while this behaviour was puzzling to Winn, the others had all seen it before.

"Don't worry Winn. I think he just needs to let some steam off", said Roy, prompting Winn to understandably nod and contact James.

* * *

J'onn, as did everyone else overseeing the events, fully expected Oliver to deal with the robbers easily with little to no troubles. Ever since he saw Oliver fight the White Martians, J'onn had gained tremendous respect for Oliver's capabilities and having seen how Oliver handled Mon-El and their training, he had even more respect for the man that Oliver was. Oliver arrived at the bank, and J'onn was considering to not even watch as the outcome was going to be so obvious. As he watched Oliver deal with the robbers, he was right, the outcome and results were obvious, but Oliver's methods weren't.

He watched as Oliver beat almost every robber to complete incapacitation. He was shooting arrows at them in vital areas which could be leaving them with life-changing injuries. The ferocity with which he threw his strikes could almost be felt through the monitors. These robbers were committing a crime, of course, but they didn't deserve the punishment that Oliver was dealing to them. For the first time since he had met Oliver, J'onn was finally starting to see the darkness that he had inside of him…

* * *

"Hey, Oliver," called Roy, as Oliver returned to the DEO.

"Yeah?" replied Oliver as Roy walked up to him.

"Are you okay?" asked Roy, as he walked with Oliver through the DEO.

"Yeah, why would you ask that?"

"You really put the hurt on those guys. I haven't seen you like that since…"

"Roy, I'm fine," said Oliver definitively, as he entered his room. Roy clearly didn't take it as a truthful answer.

"Look, Oliver, I know something's up. Tell me. You're feeling guilty over Kara's kidnapping?"

"You won't understand."

"What the hell do you mean I won't understand? How do you think I felt when I was by Thea's bedside in Starling General? You think I don't blame myself for that?"

"Roy, she is in this mess because of me! The night she was kidnapped, Komodo told me that it was my fault that this was happening."

"And you believe him?"

"How could he be wrong? Roy, the people who get close to me get hurt."

"You're starting to sound like you believe all that crap that Chase put in your head."

"It's true."

"No, it isn't! Oliver, if you were half the man that Chase said you were, I wouldn't be here. Everybody around you is happy that you're in their life… It's just a shame you don't see it that way." As Roy finished his sentence, Nyssa came up next to him with a hopeful look on her face.

"We may have found something."

* * *

"I looked over footage from a body cam that was on Alex when she reached the rooftop," started Winn, "I looked at it several times and I didn't find anything out of the ordinary. That's until I went to YouTube to look at new videos of test launches of jets using the new Caesar propulsion system being developed by Stellmoor International," Winn typed into his computer, and a side-by-side video of the Caesar propulsion jet launch and the jet they used to take away Kara played on the screens in front of them, "Notice anything?" asked Winn.

"They're virtually identical," replied Nyssa, as she glanced to see Oliver, Roy and Slade's reactions. While there were some differences between the two designs of the jets, the take-off sequence was very distinct. The two jets took off in an identical manner, which meant they used the same mechanisms.

"Not only that, the Caesar propulsion system is the first of its kind. Stellmoor International is the only company in the world that has developed such technology," added Winn.

"Who's the CEO?" asked Oliver.

"Funny you ask… Simon Lacroix" replied Winn, as the pictures of the suave middle-aged man appeared on the screen, "Before you ask, there's absolutely nothing about him that gives any indication that he is Komodo."

"He still has to be connected to Kara's kidnapping somehow, right?" asked Roy.

"Are you implying that the CEO of Stellmoor International, a millionaire and a philanthropist, is working with Cadmus and supplying them tech?" asked J'onn.

"It's a possibility, J'onn," replied Oliver.

"Agent Schott, I need you to try find anything suspicious on Lacroix that could tie him to Cadmus. Any shady deals, unauthorised transactions, anything remotely anti-alien that he's said," ordered J'onn.

"With all due respect, what if nothing comes up?" asked Winn.

"Then we pay him a visit."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Nyssa confront Lacroix.

**_(Seattle – 11:37)_ **

Oliver and Nyssa walked the streets of Seattle, both of them wearing formal clothes. Winn found absolutely nothing incriminating on Lacroix, so they decided to go with Plan B. Their plan was simple, to meet with Lacroix as FBI agents and question him directly. Seattle was less than a two-hour flight from National City, so the others stayed behind while Oliver and Nyssa went. Also, they decided that it was best that Alex didn't go. If Lacroix really was involved, he could very well be aware that Alex was Kara's sister and know of the DEO's existence. With Oliver and Nyssa, he'd have no reason to expect that they weren't FBI agents, as he'd have never seen them before.

With Kara having been missing for over 36 hours now, Clark was swarmed by people asking for Supergirl's whereabouts in the streets. As Superman, he gave an excuse that she had gone on "vacation" and that he would be taking care of National City in the meantime. It stuck of course, but the longer they took to find Kara, the more restless National City would become. James used the same excuse to explain Kara Danvers' whereabouts to Lena at CatCo.

They reached the doors of the large skyscraper where Lacroix had his offices. They entered the building, with the composition of it reminding Oliver of the former Merlyn Global Group building back on Earth-1. They walked towards the security desk on their right, confronting the security with a friendly, but focused demeanour.

"We're here to see Mr Lacroix," said Oliver, "We don't have an appointment, but we don't need one," finished Oliver, as he and Nyssa held up their FBI badges. The security guard nodded, quickly giving them security passes to the restricted access elevator that led to the top floor. Oliver and Nyssa turned around, immediately walking towards the elevator and pressing the button for floor level 75, the highest. With just the two of them in the elevator, Nyssa decided to initiate a conversation.

"It's quite fun going on missions like this with you, husband," she teased.

"Why do you still insist on calling me that?" asked Oliver.

"Because it's fun," she replied, smiling to herself, "You know, I've seen and been to many places in my lifetime. I never thought that one day, I'd be in a different universe. Literally."

"Our lives just keep getting weirder, don't they?" replied Oliver.

"Indeed."

Upon reaching the top floor and walking out of the elevator, they immediately walked over to Lacroix's secretary's desk. The young brunette girl gave them a smile as they approached her.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

"We're here to speak with Simon Lacroix… Cathy," replied Oliver, reading her name tag.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you have to make an appointment to see Mr Lacroix."

"Unfortunately Cathy, we didn't have time to do that. We need to see him now. It's a matter of national security" replied Oliver, as he pulled out the fake FBI agent badge once again and showed it to her.

"I understand, sir," replied Cathy, as she stood up and walked them to the door, opening it for them.

"What is it, Cathy?" Oliver and Nyssa heard the voice ask from inside as they stepped through.

"You have visitors, Simon," she replied.

"There's nobody on my schedule for this time," he said, keeping his eyes fixed on the papers in front of him and not looking up.

"Sorry Mr Lacroix but the matter is urgent," said Nyssa, as she held up her FBI badge, "We're here on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation." The mention of the FBI caused Simon to lift his head up and crack a warm smile.

"My apologies," he said as he got up from his chair, "I'll always have time for the men and women working to keep our country safe." He gestured for Cathy that she could leave the room before extending a hand to Oliver.

"Simon Lacroix," he said, introducing himself.

"Oliver Queen."

"Nyssa Raatko," said Nyssa as she offered her hand to Lacroix.

"Pleasure to meet you, Nyssa. In Arabic, Nyssa means woman, but I prefer the Scandinavian translation… Fairy," he said with a charming smile before walking back to his chair.

"Trust me Mr Lacroix, I am anything but a fairy," replied Nyssa, drawing a chuckle from Lacroix.

"Well, somehow I do not doubt that," he replied, with his eyes lingering over her for a second before he sat down on his chair, "Now, how can I help you two?"

"We're here to discuss details surrounding the disappearance of Supergirl," replied Oliver, as he and Nyssa sat opposite Lacroix.

"Disappearance?" asked Lacroix, showing surprise at the use of that word, "I remember vaguely reading that she's gone on a vacation of some sort?"

"Mr Lacroix, what we're about to reveal to you is confidential information. I need not remind you what would happen if you were to tell this information to anyone else," said Oliver.

"Of course, I understand. What is it?" he asked.

"We have reason to believe that Supergirl was kidnapped by Cadmus," replied Oliver, as he took out four medium-sized photographs from his blazer pocket and handed them to Lacroix. They were satellite images of when Kara was taken into the jet. Oliver didn't want to use the DEO body camera footage as that would give up their disguise immediately, "As you can see, these satellite images show Supergirl being hoisted into a jet before it takes off."

"Wow, that is… disturbing," he replied, "How does this concern me?"

"Our digital forensics department analysed the take-off trajectory and sequence of the jet from the pictures," spoke up Nyssa, "We concluded that the only propulsion system capable of such a take-off is the Caesar system that your company has developed," Lacroix leaned back in his chair, the look on his face a mix of surprise, but also clarity.

"We're not accusing you of being involved in this, but the evidence has led us here," said Oliver.

"I understand," replied Lacroix.

"How did your tech end up in the hands of Cadmus?" asked Nyssa.

"There are a couple of Stellmoor International warehouses in National City," began Lacroix, "We stored parts for the Caesar propulsion system there. When the Daxamites invaded, our warehouses were caught in the crossfire, and many of our items were destroyed, of course. We assumed our parts for the Caesar propulsion system there were destroyed too but I think Cadmus may have taken advantage of the chaos and stolen these parts. I'm truly sorry for this. I hope this information is useful for your investigation."

"It might be," replied Oliver.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"No, that will be all," replied Oliver, as the three of them stood up.

"Please, if you need help with anything else, do not hesitate to call me," said Lacroix, as gave a business card to Oliver, "I've always admired everything that Supergirl and her cousin have done for our planet. I'd be glad to help in any way to bring her home."

"Thank you for your time Mr Lacroix," replied Oliver as he shook his hand firmly once more.

"Thank you two for coming," replied Lacroix, before he began to eye Nyssa once again, "Perhaps the next time that you're in Seattle, we can discuss these matters over a dinner," he said alluringly. Nyssa didn't reply with words, simply forcing a smile before turning around and starting to walk towards the door, with Oliver following her lead, "Enjoy the rest of your day," said Lacroix as they walked away. Oliver was about to exit through the door, but just as he was about to leave, the large painting on the wall in front of him caught his eye. A painting of a large lizard, its mouth gaping open, showcasing its fearsome teeth. A komodo dragon…

"This painting. It's of a komodo right? A komodo dragon," said Oliver, as he pointed at it while turning to face Lacroix.

"Well, I suppose you could say that in some way, but it isn't," replied Lacroix, "That is actually a Megalania. A prehistoric ancestor to the komodo dragon. Much bigger and fiercer. They always fascinated me as a child. Why do you ask?"

"It's just a great painting," said Oliver with a smile, before he exited the office.

* * *

**_(The DEO – National City, 13:12)_ **

"Really? That's the only thing you found suspicious about him?" asked Alex.

"He did seem a bit off, but also he said and did all of the right things," replied Oliver.

"Apart from flirting with me," added Nyssa.

"Wait, Lacroix tried flirting with you?" asked Roy, surprised.

"I was about to break his jaw," said Nyssa, drawing a half-smile from Roy, who thought it was hilarious that Lacroix didn't know that he was attempting to seduce the former Daughter of The Demon.

"Look, on my Earth, there was a Komodo and he was a Simon Lacroix. And now, the Simon Lacroix on this Earth has an affinity for 'Komodo' dragons," continued Oliver.

"Megalania," said Winn, correcting Oliver only to receive a scowl in return.

"Look, I know we're desperate for leads, but don't you think you're stretching too far here?" asked Slade, "It's a painting, kid. It's more than likely a coincidence."

"His explanation for the propulsion system checks out too. From what we have so far, Simon Lacroix is clean," said J'onn.

"I agree, but something in my gut is telling me to think otherwise," replied Oliver.

"Unfortunately Oliver, we're going to need a lot more than a gut feeling if we're to accuse Simon Lacroix," rebuttled J'onn.

Oliver had to admit that J'onn was right. However, if there was one thing that Oliver had found out in the past 10 years, it was that he could trust his gut instinct, and as of right now, something about it told him that Lacroix's hands weren't as clean as they seemed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four days since Kara was taken. Oliver's patience wears off, and he makes a ghastly decision in an attempt to find out where she is.

Two more days had passed on Earth-38, and the tension at the DEO was intensifying every day. Nobody said it aloud, but they all knew that the fact that Cadmus had Kryptonite meant that Kara was most probably being tortured, if not already killed by now. Criminals in National City tried to take advantage of Supergirl's absence but the presence of the Green Arrow, Guardian and Superman quickly sent National City's criminals back into hiding. Oliver was also enjoying the presence of Roy. He had missed working with him, and felt that they had a special friendship which was hard to put into words.

Still, his impatience was reaching nearly incomprehensible levels. Kara had been gone for nearly four days, and there were literally zero clues indicating to her whereabouts. Clark had found Hank Henshaw and brought him into DEO custody, but he obviously wasn't going to give up Kara's location. Slade, Roy and Nyssa aided hits on suspected Cadmus warehouses, but none of the agents they captured knew where Kara was. She was suffering every day because of his failure, and it was hurting him to see what it was doing to her friends too. Winn kept his same hopeful personality and charisma, but he was very worried about her too. Alex was trying to pull every string she could to get any info on Kara.

Oliver had searched up everything he could on Komodo. He's been operating for nearly 15 years, first being spotted in Hong Kong before making sporadic appearances around the globe. The targets of his actions varied, with him operating on seemingly all sides of the spectrum. He'd killed innocent bystanders, but also terrorists. Such actions were indicative of a mercenary or a hitman, but he was neither, which made the motives for his actions far more mysterious. He seemed to operate for himself, but he had to have an ulterior motive. One case of Komodo's stuck out to Oliver. A case of theft, where he intercepted a transportation of Promethium, an alien metal, and assumingly took the metal for himself. Promethium was extremely durable, even more so than Nth metal. That would explain how Komodo's bow was able to withstand punishment from Oliver's Nth metal bow, since it was most probably made of Promethium.

Oliver walked into Al's Bar. It was middle of the afternoon, so the place wasn't exceptionally busy. He felt a hint of sadness come over him as he saw two unfamiliar faces bartendering. He had gotten used to seeing M'gann and Mon-El there. The place was still relatively the same, and he found the exact person who he was looking for sitting at the bar. Alex. He walked up and pulled out the seat next to her, smiling as she turned to look at him. She reciprocated the smile and took another sip of her club soda, which she was clearly drinking because it reminded her of Kara.

"Euphorian cidar, please," requested Oliver, as he sat next to Alex.

"What are you doing here?" asked Alex.

"I came to look for you… And to drink, but mainly to look for you," replied Oliver.

"Why?"

"Checking up on a friend. My sister got kidnapped once too."

"By who?"

"Slade," replied Oliver, grimacing slightly as he realised how odd that sounded, "It's a long story," he quickly added, "How are you though?"

"How do you think?" replied Alex.

"Frustrated… Angry… Pissed off that there's nothing you can do about it," replied Oliver before taking a sip of his brink.

"Pretty much," replied Alex, "What about you?"

"The same."

"I know this situation with Kara is screwing with us all, but I feel like something else has been bothering you," said Alex. Oliver glanced at her before taking a deep breath and replying.

"Mon-El…" replied Oliver, before taking another sip of his drink, and bringing the bottle down on the table a little harder than usual, "When I first met him, I thought he was a prick…"

"Didn't we all?" joked Alex with a half-smile, which Oliver acknowledged with a half-smile of his own before continuing.

"But then I got to know him, and I realised he was a good man. Didn't always seem like it, but he wanted to help others. Most importantly, I could see how happy he made Kara. And all of that was just… ripped away for no goddamn reason."

"Messed up, right?"

"Why is it that those of us who deserve the most, suffer, while those who deserve to suffer, just… keep on living… What's the message in that?"

"That we have to get Kara back… no matter the cost," said Alex, before she hastily downed her drink and stormed out of the bar. Oliver immediately recognised the change in her demeanour… She was about to do something stupid.

"Alex… Alex!" Oliver called after her as she made her way to the exit, but she ignored him. Oliver quickly took one last sip of his drink and left money on the table before chasing after her. He managed to get to her once they were outside the bar, "Alex, what are you doing?"

"Oliver, they have her, and they have Kryptonite. They could be torturing her, she could be..." she couldn't finish her sentence, unable to fathom the thought of Kara being dead, "I have to get her, somehow," said Alex, clearly at her wits end.

"Alex… we have no leads. What do you plan on doing?"

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you."

"Alex… Hey!" screamed Oliver, stopping Alex from walking away from him once again, "I've lost too many friends in my life already. I'm not about to see you go on a suicide mission."

"I'm not doing that, Oliver. I… I'm going to speak to Hank Henshaw."

"Speak? Alex, you're going to torture him."

"I have to get my sister back, Oliver!" she replied with a tone of desperation.

"Alex, you can't do it. Let me."

"What?"

"Alex, every time you torture someone, you lose a part of your humanity. You lose a part of your soul. Rather mine than yours."

"Oliver, I don't want you to have to do that."

"It's ok, Alex. I've done it before, and I'm willing to do it again… for Kara."

* * *

Oliver stared at the handle of the door leading to Henshaw's confinement, knowing full well what was about to happen once he was inside there. Once he entered, Oliver Queen was going to be left outside. Inside, there was only going to be the Kapiushon. He clenched his left fist reflexively once again, moulding his hand around the shape of the handle of his bow. He turned to look at Alex one more time.

"You shouldn't come inside," said Oliver.

"I understand," said Alex, feeling not just nervous and anxious, but frightened too. The Oliver in front was a stark contrast to the one she had played game night with multiple times. She looked into the eyes of a man who was so desperate that he was willing to leave his humanity behind, something she thought she would be able to do, but quickly realised she couldn't.

"No matter what happens, don't come inside," he said without looking at her, before he entered the room. Henshaw, sitting on the floor of his cell, raised his head and smirked at the sight of Oliver. Oliver kept eye contact with Henshaw right from the moment he entered, never once changing the focus of his optics.

"So, you're the Green Arrow?" said Henshaw sarcastically, noting Oliver carrying his bow with his quiver strapped to his back despite him being in civilian clothes, "You've made quite the impression. Showed up several months ago and then suddenly disappeared before returning four days ago. Where have you been all this time?" asked Henshaw mockingly.

"Shut up!" growled Oliver, who was in no mood to entertain any antics. He pulled out a remote from his pocket and pressed two buttons consecutively. The first deactivated all of the cameras in the room, and the second opened the door to Henshaw's cell. Completely taken aback, Henshaw quickly sprung to his feet, eyeing Oliver suspiciously, "I ask the questions in here!" finished Oliver.

"You think just because I don't have my powers, I'm supposed to be afraid of you?" asked Henshaw arrogantly with a wicked grin as he came face to face with Oliver.

"You should be."

Immediately as he finished his sentence, Oliver struck Henshaw in the throat with a palm strike, a technique that he had learned from Ra's Al Ghul. Henshaw may have been a cyborg, but he still needed his trachea to be able to breath. As Henshaw stumbled back, choking, Oliver swung his bow around, striking Henshaw across the right human side of his face. Henshaw, having been thrown to his left by the strike, felt a sharp piercing pain in this right knee as Oliver fired an arrow into it. Within a couple of more seconds, another arrow was fired into his right shoulder, the combined pain and impact of the arrows knocking him down onto his back. As he lay on his back, he tried to fight the pain as Oliver Queen stood over him without a hint of mercy in his eyes.

"Where is Supergirl?!" screamed Oliver, drawing another arrow and aiming it at Henshaw's stomach.

"You're going to have to do a lot more if you want to get me to talk," replied Henshaw.

"I know," replied Oliver, as he un-nocked the arrow and placed it back in his quiver. He knelt down next to Henshaw, placing his bow on the floor and taking out a taser device, "You see this?" said Oliver, waving the device in front of Henshaw's face, "This is going to send 200 mA through your body. It'll overload your cybernetic parts until you fry to death."

"Come on, you don't have the guts to use it," taunted Henshaw. The taunt didn't do him any favours, as Oliver struck him with a punch before speaking up again.

"I skinned a man once… This is child's play for me."

Oliver placed the device next to the cyber part of Henshaw's face, and pulled the trigger, the sound of electricity crackling and circuit boards bursting being drowned out by Henshaw's screams. After several seconds, Oliver pulled it away.

"Had enough?" asked Oliver. Henshaw remained silent, so Oliver placed the taser next to his head once again, the screaming and yelling beginning for the second time. Oliver kept the taser there longer this time, as the electrical surge began to move past the cybernetics, causing the scent of burning flesh to slowly waft into the air. Suddenly, the door burst open, as Slade walked in hastily.

"Oliver, stop!" screamed Slade, causing Oliver to turn off the device and turn to face Slade, "What the hell are you doing?" asked Slade, not with a tone of anger, but with a tone of dismay.

"He knows where she is, I'm going to make him tell me," replied Oliver, without a hint of remorse.

"Kid, you don't have to. We've picked up a kryptonite signature coming from the Cascade mountain range near Seattle."

"He's right," muttered Henshaw, breathing heavily as he began to recover from the torture, "There's a facility there that Cadmus has been working out of, she's most likely there." Oliver picked up the completely weakened Henshaw and looked him dead in the eyes before replying.

"If you're lying, I'm going to come back here… and I'm going to kill you."

The helpless Henshaw didn't have the strength to reply as Oliver shoved him back into the cell and closed the cell door. Oliver tried to ignore the look of horror on Slade's face as he walked past him, but he couldn't. It was the first time he had seen any sort of reaction like that from Slade, and it made him realise what he had just done… He had proven that Chase was right…

* * *

Oliver sat by the table in his room as all of his arrows were laid out in front of him. He inspected each one individually, examining every bit from the fletches to the arrowheads. Clark was flying to the location of the kryptonite signature to do a simple recon and make sure that the place really was a Cadmus facility. For now, Oliver was preparing himself for what lay ahead while also pondering about what he had just done.

In that room with Henshaw, he didn't feel any remorse, but it was all hitting him now. What he had done was inhumane. Henshaw may have been a pathetic excuse for a person, and he may have deserved what Oliver was doing to him. However, there's always a line that should never be crossed. A line that separates the wicked from the righteous. Right now, Oliver didn't know which side of the line he stood on. He didn't want to think about how much further it would've gone had Slade not barged in, because he knew it could've gotten worse, much worse. There was a knock on his room door, and he looked up to the mirror in front of him to see who it was. It was Slade, standing in the doorway.

"Hey, kid," he said politely.

"Slade."

"You alright?" asked Slade concernedly.

"I don't know."

"You want to be left alone?"

"Not really."

The silence pestered for several more seconds until Slade decided to speak up again.

"I've never seen you like that, kid. That look in your eyes… The same look I had when Shado was killed. That's why you're willing to go so far to get Kara back… you love her, don't you?"

The answer wasn't as straightforward as Slade had suggested. Although he and Slade definitely had a tumultuous relationship, Slade would always be a big-brother figure to Oliver. Oliver had to be honest to him.

"You remember that time when we were on Lian Yu?" began Oliver, "When the first group of Ivo's men showed up? We ambushed them, and I smashed the one guys face in with a rock. Murdered him, in cold blood. After that, you and I went to higher ground and left Shado alone… That's when the bombing started. There were explosions, dirt, shrapnel flying everywhere. I always thought I just wanted to save Shado because it was the right thing to do. Only after a while, I realised the real reason… and it's the same reason for Kara. I saw her being taken away, and I didn't care that DEO agents were getting shot next to me… It was all about her. I've realised that… I want to save her, because if I can save her… maybe I'll be able to save what's left of my soul…"

Neither of the men spoke up again after Oliver finished speaking. Nothing more needed to be said by Slade, as he exited the doorway, heading back to the control center of the DEO.

* * *

"Clark!" exclaimed Alex as he flew back into the DEO. They were all back by the control hub, eagerly awaiting Clark's return "What is it? Did you find anything?"

"Yes," he said, bringing a glimmer of hope to everyone's eyes in the room as he walked towards them, "There's definitely a facility there, and it's active. There were guards outside. I couldn't look inside because the walls are lined with lead, but I know Kara's there."

"How?" asked Oliver, drawing a look of sorrow from Clark before he replied.

"Because I could hear her… screaming." The look of sorrow on Clark's face was then reciprocated by everybody else, as Alex put a hand to her open mouth due to Clark's confirmation of Kara's torture. The despondent silence echoed for several minutes throughout the DEO, before Oliver spoke up again.

"We know where she is now. That means we have to go get her," said Oliver, breaking the silence.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" screamed J'onn, drawing the attention of everybody in the DEO, "We've just found Supergirl's location, and this might be our only shot to go and get her. This is an all-hands-on-deck scenario people. I need strike teams prepped right now. Let's go get her back!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver, his team, and the DEO rescue Kara.

The facility was located on a mountain side 23 miles west of the city of Seattle. From the outside, it looked quite similar to the one where they were ambushed previously. Winn had tried to find blueprints of the facility, but there was nothing. It was completely off-the-books. The full moon provided enough light for Oliver and his team to see clearly. They stood by the line of trees where the forest ended, remaining hidden from the guards surrounding the facility.

The plan was to infiltrate as stealthily as possible and extract Kara. Once outside, Clark would quickly fly her back to the DEO for medical attention and assessment. He wasn't going to enter the building with them, as they knew that Cadmus were using kryptonite weapons. Plus, Clark could be a quick extraction plan in case anything went south. If they lost him, they'd lose their greatest asset there at the moment.

"Superman, you're up" said Oliver into the comms. A red and blue blur zipped past several checkpoints on the building for a couple of seconds, as Clark knocked out and tied up all of the guards and replied.

_"Outside guards are dealt with. You guys are clear to move in."_

As soon as Clark gave them the go ahead, Oliver and co immediately started making their way to the entrance of the facility. While Winn had discovered an initial kryptonite signature in the general area, it was split into two concentrations inside the building. With wrist devices which gave them directions to the kryptonite signature, Oliver and his team were entering from the right side of the building, heading for the slightly weaker signature where they suspected Kara was, while the DEO strike teams led by Alex were entering from the left to where the kryptonite was probably being stored. It was a massive building, one that would take some time to search. Luckily, they at least knew exactly where the kryptonite was, which meant they wouldn't have to search the whole building. J'onn wasn't kidding when he said it was an "all hands on deck scenario", as Guardian had also been called in to help with the operation.

Slade took out his handgun and shot the lock on the entrance door, with the silencer on the pistol making sure they remained undetected. Oliver nocked an arrow before readying himself to kick the door open. Slade spoke up just before Oliver was about to ram his leg into the door.

"Kid," he said, "Are you sure you have to channel your darkness for this?" he asked. Before they left, Oliver had told them to show no mercy towards any foes encountered. Slade had no problem with killing, as did Nyssa, but Slade knew that Oliver's internal struggle with it would always haunt him.

"We're getting her back. No matter the cost," replied Oliver, before kicking the door open, walking in side by side with Slade as Nyssa and Roy followed behind them. Unlike the previous Cadmus facility, the lights were steady and did not flicker, as the four of them walked through the hallway of the building. Walking through the hallways, they killed every agent they came across, littering the facility with bodies either filled with arrows or slit throats. Roy was the only one not entirely comfortable with killing, as he just maimed the agents he came across. They spotted several cameras monitoring the hallways, shooting every one they came across down. Still, it was still only a matter of time before their presence was detected.

Oliver looked at the tracker on his wrist… they were nearing the Kryptonite signature. He and Slade hastily turned right at a corner and were met with the sight of several Cadmus agents heading towards him, fully armed. Oliver and Slade jumped back to behind cover as the agents started firing. As they waited for the fire to stop, more Cadmus agents appeared from behind them. Nyssa and Roy immediately started firing arrows at them, while Slade walked back around the corner, drawing his machine pistols and spraying the other batch of agents.

"Oliver, go!" screamed Roy, in between firing arrows.

"I'm not leaving you guys!" replied Oliver, as he started firing arrows too.

"Go get her kid! We've got this handled!" assured Slade. Oliver really didn't want to leave them, but he remembered why he chose them to come with in the first place. They were more than capable of taking down platoons of Cadmus agents, "Go!" screamed Slade, as he laid down covering fire for Oliver. Oliver turned left at the hallway, breaking into a full-on sprint as he heard the sounds of Slade's guns behind him stop, being replaced by the sounds of his swords cutting through flesh.

"Alex, what's your status?" asked Oliver over the comms.

_"Cadmus agents have us pinned down. Where are you?"_

"On my way to Kara!"

He glanced at the wrist device again, seeing that the signature was right ahead of him. He felt as if he ran the length of the facility until he came across a brightly lit hallway with no perpendicular junctions that led to a white, steel vault door. The rest of the facility seemed fairly worn down and old, but this door stood out with its modern design. The kryptonite was right behind this door. He spun the vault handle around and slowly pushed it open. As it opened, he immediately noticed the green glow emanating from the room. It was very dull, with it just being bright enough for Oliver to see with a decent level of clarity. The light was coming from four tall lamps, each positioned in the corners of the room. He immediately spotted a woman lying on an operating table towards the left of the room… Kara. He swung the door open, readying himself to almost run towards her, but as he entered, he heard the nocking of an arrow from the right of the room. His reflexes saved him as he caught the arrow shot at him before spinning around, nocking it on his bow and firing it back at the source. He watched as the man on the other side reciprocated the action, catching the arrow as it was inches away from his masked face… Komodo.

"We meet once again, Green Arrow," said Komodo disdainfully.

"Let her go!" demanded Oliver, "Or I'm going to kill you."

"Do you really think you can beat me after what happened the last time we fought?"

"You're about to find out!"

Oliver fired an arrow at Komodo only to see it being knocked out of the air by another. It irked Oliver to his core that Komodo was not only good enough to match his archery, but good enough to surpass him. They ran towards each other, engaging in a hand-to-hand duel once again. There was no holding back this time, as Oliver threw his strikes with an intent he hadn't since his time in Russia. Right now, Komodo wasn't fighting Oliver Queen, or the Green Arrow. He was fighting the Kapiushon.

Fighting with Komodo was the equivalent of human chess, as no direct blow would be enough to put him out. Every move had to be planned, set up. They traded blows for almost a full minute, as the momentum of the duel changed with almost every strike. Both of these men had counters for what they had each done to each other in the first fight. Oliver forced himself to remain calm as Komodo began to gain the upper hand in the battle once again. He felt a glimmer of hope as he recognised one of Komodo's favourite techniques... a check right hook. Oliver had the perfect counter for it, one that was taught to him by Slade. Oliver feinted with his right leg, making it appear as if he was going to throw a kick and drew out the reactionary right hook from Komodo. Oliver quickly threw powerful straight left hand punch on the inside of the right hook, connecting square on Komodo's jaw. A blow that would've knocked a lesser man out.

Komodo stumbled around from the impact, and Oliver took the opportunity kick his knee. With Komodo dropped to one knee, and still dazed from the punch, Oliver drew a flechette from his thigh holster. He lifted it up in the air, reading to bring it down on Komodo's head. It appeared as if his actions were occurring in slow motion, as the flechette edged closer and closer to Komodo's scalp. Just as Oliver thought he was about to kill him, he felt a powerful thud on his leg and lost balance, dropping to the floor.

At the last second, Komodo had spun on the ground and kicked Oliver's legs out from beneath him. No matter what Oliver did, he just couldn't seem to get the upper hand on him. Komodo rose back to his feet just as Slade and Roy entered the room. Komodo, recognising that he was about to be outnumbered, quickly threw a flashbang grenade to the floor, which burst and disorientated Oliver and his team.

After a few seconds, they had managed to regain their bearings, as Oliver found himself in the room with Slade, Nyssa and Roy. He looked to the other side of the room, spotting the vault door on the other side. He quickly rose to his feet and tried to open it, but it was locked. He slammed his fist on the door, frustrated that he was not able to finish the job. He heard the shattering of glass and plastic as the four kryptonite lamps were destroyed. The dull white lights on the walls were switched on, illuminating the room once more.

"Oliver."

He turned around and saw Roy gesturing to the table. Oliver slowly walked towards it, fearing what he was about to see. With each step, the cuts on Kara's arms became more visible, as did the massive blood stains almost completely covering her gown.

"Kara?" he called out. He came up next to her, horrified to see her face with bruises all over it. Her lip was cut, and her left eye was nearly swollen shut. For a second, he feared that she was dead, and felt relieved to see her head move slightly towards him as her right eye opened a small amount.

"Please… stop…" the words struggled to come out of her mouth, whimpering. Oliver hastily took off his mask and his hood, hoping that she would recognise him.

"Kara, it's okay," he said as he brought his face closer to hers and placed his hands gently on her cheek, "It's me, Oliver."

"Ol… Oliver?"

"It's going to be ok. You're going home now."


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara is medically evaluated, and everybody is informed of the full extent of her injuries.

Oliver stood by the door of the med-bay in the DEO, his eyes focused completely on Kara. She lay asleep on the bed, with a respirator on her face and her body being covered with a golden hue due to the sun lamps placed around her. The only noises in the room were the beeps of the heart-rate monitor and the sniffles of Alex, who sat next to her sister's bed, crying. Clark stood next to Alex with a hand on her shoulder, comforting her. Oliver felt a hand tap his shoulder, turning to see Roy next to him.

"J'onn wants to tell us the full medical evaluation results. Conference room," said Roy. Oliver acknowledged his words with a nod, turning back to look at Clark.

"Clark," called out Oliver, gesturing with his head to come with. Clark asked Alex if she would be okay before leaving the room. Understandably, she didn't want to leave her sister's side. Clark walked to the conference room with Oliver and Roy, seeing Slade, Nyssa, Winn and James already seated in the room, with J'onn standing at the head of the table.

"Tell us," requested Oliver as he sat down.

"Broken orbital bone, three snapped ribs, punctured lung, 23 lacerations all over her body, which have resulted in the loss of about 30% of her blood, and that's not even the worst of it," said J'onn somberly, "I read through files you collected from the facility that detailed what they did to her." J'onn closed his eyes and breathed deeply, as even a man of his experience was disturbed by it, "They surgically removed tissue from various organs, done without anaesthesia. They gave her a drug called Vertigo, it warps your sense and perception of time. It was four days in reality, but for her, everything may have felt like weeks. She wasn't just constantly exposed to kryptonite… They injected her with it. Blood tests showed that there's kryptonite molecules literally stuck to her cells."

The silence in the room was deafening as they all processed what they had just heard. Oliver watched as Winn pressed his fingers to his eyes, unable to contain his tears. He got up and walked out of the room before he began sobbing, as James got up to follow him and make sure that he was okay. The silence continued for several more seconds before Nyssa spoke up.

"What kind of a monster could do that to someone like Kara?" said Nyssa, with her voice full of dismay and disgust.

"Komodo," replied Oliver, "Any leads on his location?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, no. He's also found a way to block my psychic abilities," replied J'onn.

"Must be a gift from Cadmus," added Clark, before he stood up, "I have to go back to Metropolis for now, I'll be back tomorrow," he said, giving a look of appreciation to everyone before exiting the room and flying off. With just Team Arrow in the room, J'onn decided to thank them personally.

"I can't thank the four of you enough for helping us to bring her home," said J'onn appreciatively, "You've done enough for us, I understand if you need to return to your world now."

"I have to stay," replied Oliver quickly, "Komodo wants me. I can't leave until we get him."

"I know we said we'll just help you get Kara back, but after seeing what they did to her, we can't let that slide," said Slade.

"It wouldn't be right for us to leave while the son of a bitch that did this to her is still out there. We're staying until he's brought to justice," added Roy.

"I concur. Kara would do it for us, it's only fair that we do it for her," added Nyssa.

"Wow, I, uhh, don't know how to thank you for doing this," replied J'onn, admiring them.

"You don't need to," replied Oliver, as he stood up and exited the room.

* * *

After having showered, freshened up and changed back into civilian clothes, Oliver walked up to the med-bay. Slade, Nyssa and Roy had gone to sleep, while majority of the agents of the DEO had gone home. Oliver knocked on the open glass door leading into the room, seeing Alex still sitting by her sister's bedside.

"Can I come in?" asked Oliver.

"Yeah," replied Alex. Oliver pulled up a chair and placed it on the other side of Kara's bed before sitting on it.

"You okay?" asked Oliver.

"I don't know. I'm happy to have her back but… I hate seeing her like this," replied Alex, as she sniffled again from crying so much, "You know, uhh… throughout the entire time I've known her, she was always there for me. She was always Supergirl, you know… And now I'm sitting here and I'm looking at her like this… The one time she needed me to be there for her, I failed her," finished Alex, as she wiped the tears starting to form once again in her eyes.

"This isn't your fault, Alex."

"It isn't yours either, Oliver. You have no relations to Cadmus," she replied

"This wasn't the work of Cadmus. They were involved, but it was Komodo who did this to her… because of me," replied Oliver. Everyone was telling him to stop being so hard on himself, but he had to be because it was true. Nonetheless, it was pointless arguing, "I take it you're staying here for the night?" asked Oliver.

"Yeah," replied Alex. Oliver nodded and stood up to leave the room, but Alex stopped him, "Where are you going?" she asked.

"I thought you want to be alone with her," replied Oliver.

"No, no, it's fine. You can stay," said Alex. Oliver sat back down on the chair, smiling at Alex before turning back to look at Kara until he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**_(Stellmoor International – Seattle)_ **

"If you're here to blame me for what happened, don't even bother," said Simon Lacroix, as he eyed down Lillian Luthor, who had just barged into his office in light of the recent news of Supergirl's escape.

"How the hell did they manage to get to her?!" asked Lillian, furious.

"I'm not the person you should be asking that. Your agents were stationed there, they were the ones who failed to stop them," replied Lacroix, nonchalantly.

"And where were you while all of this was happening?"

"I was busy," replied Lacroix, vaguely, "Clearly, the Green Arrow has brought some friends with him. You need to find out who they are and if they will continue to be a problem."

"I think a bigger concern at this moment is the fact that they have her back, which means our operation is bound to be exposed."

"They're not going to be able to expose us with a mere confession. Don't worry, Ms Luthor, it's only a matter of time before she's dead. Now, is there anything else you can tell me that will not make this meeting a total waste of time?"

"Yes, in fact, there is," replied Lillian with a smirk, as she pulled out a file from her handbag, "You wanted the Green Arrow's identity… I've managed to find out who he is," she finished, as she handed the file to him.

* * *

_**(National City)** _

After being woken up the following morning by Slade, Oliver and his team went out into National City to have breakfast. Of course, it was a late breakfast, given the fact that they had had a long night before. Oliver had taken them to Noonan's, Kara's favourite place to get breakfast from. Oliver had ordered extra sticky buns to take back to Kara, as he knew they were her favourite. She hadn't had food in the several days that she was kidnapped. Although she usually didn't need food due to her Kryptonian physiology, but with the kryptonite, he wasn't sure if the lack of food affected her. Nonetheless, she would probably still be happy to have some sticky buns.

As they returned to the DEO, Oliver stepped out of the elevator on to the main floor, and readied himself to go to the med-bay. However, he looked to the main hub and saw Winn sitting by his computer. He was composed now, but Oliver could definitely see that he was still disturbed by the whole ordeal. They all were, but Winn wasn't used to dealing with something like this. He had never seen his friends get hurt like that, and it definitely stung extra that it was Kara, the one woman who was supposed to be best of them all. Oliver walked over to Winn, giving a reassuring smile as he approached him.

"You alright?" asked Oliver.

"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine," replied Winn unconvincingly, "Just trying to find leads on Komodo and Cadmus. Haven't found anything yet."

"You were pretty shaken up last night. You feeling any better now?" asked Oliver.

"Not really," replied Winn honestly, "I just… I can't imagine what it must have been like for her to go through that. I mean, she's… she's Kara. Of all the people in the world, she's the one that least deserved anything like that."

"Unfortunately Winn, this life… it's not easy. I wish it were. I wish good people didn't have to suffer, but that's just the way it is."

Just as Oliver finished his sentence, he heard the erratic beeping of the heart-rate monitor upstairs. Realising it was Kara, he sprinted upstairs to the med-bay, being met with the sight of Kara spasming, with Alex, next to her, trying to calm her.

"What's happening?" he asked, as he rushed over to Kara's side.

"She's having a panic attack," explained Alex, "She still thinks she being held captive."

"No… please…" she whimpered as she desperately tried to take Oliver and Alex's hands off her.

"Kara, it's me Oliver."

"Kara," called out Alex, as she brought her face closer to Kara's, placing a hand on her cheek, "It's Alex, your sister. You're safe now."

"Alex?" replied Kara, almost in disbelief.

"Yes. You're back at the DEO. You're safe."

Kara's stopped fighting as she looked around the area. As she realised she was no longer being held captive, she stopped fighting and laid her head back down, with her heart-rate returning to normal. Oliver and Alex both took a deep sigh of relief when Kara returned to reality, but they both looked to each other with worry in their eyes, as they knew this meant her condition was probably worse than they thought.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Komodo's identity is revealed, and Oliver confronts him.

Oliver and Alex remained by Kara's bedside for the next few hours as she drifted off to sleep once again. After a while, Alex left to go see Maggie, but Oliver didn't move. He wanted to be there when she woke up again. Under the sun lamps, her lacerations and injuries were beginning to heal, which gave them all something positive to at least cling to. Oliver watched her intently, looking for any sign of her coming back to consciousness. Her eyes slowly began to open, and Oliver heard her groan as she tried to move.

"Hey, hey, hey, take it easy," said Oliver as he sprung up and stood over her, placing his hand reassuringly on her left shoulder.

"Oliver," she said, recognising him.

"Yeah, it's me." Her eyes hovered around the room, and Oliver saw her become slightly unnerved once again. The room reminded her of the facility she was kept in, "Hey, look at me. It's alright," said Oliver. She stared at him, and for the first time since she had been back, she smiled slightly. Oliver sat back down on his chair, but moved it right up to her bedside so he'd always be in her line of sight.

"Where's Alex?" asked Kara.

"She's gone to see Maggie. She'll be back soon. Hey, I got you sticky buns," said Oliver, gesturing to the packet on the bedside table.

"Thanks," replied Kara.

"Are you feeling any better?" asked Oliver.

"Yeah, a little." Oliver knew that talking about what had happened would be tough for her, but he had to know a couple of things.

"Kara… how long do you think you were gone for?" asked Oliver.

"I don't know… Two weeks, maybe." Oliver swore under his breath. The Vertigo drug had really warped her mind severely.

"Was it Komodo who hurt you? The archer?" asked Oliver, drawing a small nod from her, "Do you know who he is?" Kara was trying to reply, but the words were struggling to come out of her mouth. Eventually, she managed to say his name…

_"Simon Lacroix."_

Oliver felt his anger and rage boil up inside of him. That bastard lied with a straight face to him. His technology hadn't been stolen by Cadmus, it had probably been supplied to them. He heard someone walk in to the room, and turned to see Alex walk in.

"Kara. You're awake," said Alex, as she rushed towards Kara's side. As she entered, Oliver stood and started to make his way out of the room, "Oliver, where are you going?" asked Alex.

"Just need to get some fresh air."

* * *

**_(23:59 – Seattle)_ **

Simon Lacroix stood in his office, admiring the painting of the Megalania that hung on the wall opposite his desk. He was alone in the building with the exception of security. Everybody else had gone home, but he had some business to tend to… not regarding his company. He was expecting a visitor. Right on the cue of midnight, the lights shut off in his office, and he couldn't help but crack a smile as he heard the thuds of footsteps entering into his office from the open balcony door.

"I've been expecting you," said Lacroix nonchalantly without turning around.

"Simon Lacroix… You're going to pay for what you did to Supergirl," said the Green Arrow, "I know that you're Komodo, and I'm going to kill you."

"Well then why haven't you yet?" asked Lacroix, as he turned around to face Oliver, "Is it because you're not stupid enough to try murder the CEO of a worldwide company in his office, or is it because you know that you simply can't? Twice now, you've come up against me, and I've proven that you can't beat me. I'm faster… stronger… and better than you in every conceivable way… Oliver."

Oliver winced at the revelation that Lacroix knew who he was too, and Oliver had to fight back the urge to nock an arrow and put it in Lacroix's chest right now.

"Oh yes, I know who you are too. It took me a while to connect the dots, but with the help of some friends of mine, I figured it out, Mr Queen. You show up around the same time the Green Arrow does, and you return the same time that he does too. The most interesting thing though is that there is absolutely nothing else on you. No family, no bank accounts… It's almost as if Oliver Queen doesn't exist on this planet," said Lacroix, as he took a couple of steps closer to Oliver.

"What the hell do you want?" asked Oliver.

"Does the date of the 11th of February ring a bell?" asked Lacroix, with Oliver's stone-cold expression being the answer he received, "I didn't think it would. You see, Oliver, I spent many years searching for an artifact. A Totem. I'd used an insurmountable amount of resources trying to find it. It was my life's work… and on the 11th of February of this year, I finally found the map to it… and then you blew up the car it was being transported in, and burnt it to fucking ash!"

Oliver mentally kicked himself for not remembering sooner, as the image of the half-burnt envelope with the name 'Lacroix' written on it popped back into his mind. He had forgotten about it almost immediately in the aftermath of the ordeal, having gone to Al's Bar to go meet Maggie for the first time.

"You tortured an innocent woman over a totem?" asked Oliver, his voice filled with anger and disgust.

"I don't expect you to understand what it feels like to have your life's work ripped away from you!" growled Lacroix, as he stood just inches away from Oliver.

"I understand perfectly!" growled back Oliver, "Leave Supergirl out of this! You want me, here I am!"

"The typical good guy plea. Your little girlfriend isn't safe. She's not going to be until I've made you suffer. You may have her back, but trust me, this war has just begun."

"I'm not a man you want go to war with," replied Oliver, causing Lacroix to scoff as he eyed down Oliver with little respect.

"This is going to be fun," said Lacroix intensely, as he turned around and walked back to the painting. He paused in front of it, reaching into an inside pocket of his trench coat, and held up a flechette in his hand, the same one that Oliver had used to try kill him. He turned his body to a sideways stance to face Oliver, before throwing the flechette at him. Oliver caught it as it was inches away from his right eye. It was a telegraphed move from Lacroix, one that wasn't meant to harm him… it was merely a statement.

"Keep it," said Lacroix, smirking, "You're going to need it."

Oliver dropped the flechette to the floor, walking out onto the balcony and shooting a grappling arrow to zip away from the Stellmoor International building.

* * *

Oliver walked in the forests several miles away from the city of Seattle to the DEO transport aircraft he had used to get here. The encounter with Lacroix pretty much went as expected, but Oliver left feeling a bit more worried than he'd expected he would. Kara's torture was just the beginning. Whatever Lacroix was planning was going to be big but Oliver knew that he was going to stop it. He didn't know anything about the totem, but judging by how Lacroix spoke about it, it wasn't something that should be allowed into his hands. Oliver whipped his head up to the sky defensively upon hearing a whoosh, but relaxed when he saw it was a blue and red blur. Down flew Clark Kent, who landed right in front of Oliver.

"What the hell are you doing?" asked Clark sternly, as he approached Oliver.

"What do you think?" replied Oliver arrogantly.

"What were you even thinking when you decided to confront Lacroix in his office? Let alone what you were thinking when you stole a DEO transport aircraft to fly here?"

"Clark, I needed to know what he wanted and why."

"Do you know now?"

"Yes, I do. I also know that he's planning something else, which we'll hopefully find out about when Winn taps into the bug that I placed in his office. We have Kara back, but this is far from over," finished Oliver, as he opened the pilot's door to the aircraft and stepped in.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver explains to the team what Lacroix told him. Later, he and Slade train together, like old times.

"So Lacroix did all of this just because you destroyed the map to this totem?" asked Roy, as he sat in the conference room with everybody. Team Arrow, Winn, James, J'onn, Clark and Alex.

"Yeah," replied Oliver somberly, standing up as opposed to everybody else sitting.

"Did he tell you anything else about the totem?" asked J'onn.

"No, but what I do know is that he still wants it, and that he'll stop at nothing to get it," replied Oliver, "He also said that this is far from over. Winn, you need to tap into that bug I placed in his office."

"Will do, ASAP," replied Winn.

"We need to find out what his next move is going to be," said Oliver.

"We also need to find out what exactly this totem is, and why Lacroix wants it so bad," added Nyssa.

"Kara says that Lacroix told her a lot of things. Maybe once she feels better, she might be able to tell us something that can help," said Alex.

"About Kara, we need to talk about her," said Oliver, changing the topic.

"What is it?" asked Alex, drawing a sigh from Oliver before he began speaking.

"What Kara has been through is… it's something that not a lot of people have experienced," began Oliver, "She's healing physically, but that's not what I'm worried about. We can all agree that psychologically, this has been hell for her. Being in a facility like the DEO is reminding her too much of where she was kept, which is why I think it's best that as soon as she is well enough, we move her back to her apartment."

"No," replied Alex immediately, "No, we can't. It's not safe for her."

"Look, Lacroix is a millionaire. He doesn't know her secret identity right now, but he's still one of the most powerful men in the world. If he finds out, it'll be too easy for him to get to her again if she's in her apartment. With the kryptonite molecules still in her system, she's going to be vulnerable for a while," added James.

"You're both right, but I agree with Oliver on this one," said J'onn, surprising Alex and Winn, "I can't read Kryptonian minds, but I can still read her passive psychic energy. It is… all over the place. I can truly say that I am shocked. For the first time in many years. It will be best for her if she removes herself from this environment."

"If we do it, how do we keep her safe?" asked Alex. Oliver turned to look at Slade, who began to speak up.

"When I started out as an ASIS agent, I worked on a few witness protection operations. We employed a very specific system which made sure the witness was always kept in our sights. Now I haven't had time to thoroughly study the schematics of Kara's apartment and the surrounding buildings but this is what we'd do. One person on an adjacent rooftop with a view of Kara's apartment and the surrounding area. One person on the ground, and one in Kara's apartment, with her at all times. This way, we'll have eyes on her 24/7, and we'll be able to secure the area around her."

"What do you think?" asked Oliver.

"I think it'll work," said Clark, while Winn and James nodded too. Oliver looked towards Alex, who still seemed hesitant about the plan.

"She's your sister, Alex. Your call," said Oliver. She pondered for a couple of more seconds, staring into space before looking back at Oliver with a new look of trust on her face.

"Let's do it."

* * *

Oliver and Slade stood opposite each other in the training room of the DEO, the sounds of their bamboo sticks clashing against each other's echoing in the room. After a flurry of exchanges which lasted nearly a minute, Oliver finally managed to find an opening on Slade, using it to land a strike on Slade's face, who stumbled back and raised his hand to his cheek. He wiped his cheek to see if there was any blood, but there wasn't.

"Well, that's never happened before," said Slade, as he smiled at Oliver, "I see you've improved quite a bit since the last time we trained."

"You don't say," replied Oliver cheerfully as he handed a water bottle to Slade. After they each took massive gulps of water, Slade spoke up again.

"I enjoyed the training. It reminds me of our early time on the island," said Slade.

"Simpler times."

"Our biggest problem was Fyers. It was just the three of us, you, me… Shado." Oliver noticed the hint of regret and sadness in his voice when he said her name.

"Do you still think about her?" asked Oliver.

"Sometimes… Her death still haunts me to this day. For years, I blamed you for what happened, but it was partly my fault too. I feel like her death is a sin that I'm still atoning for. Along with everything that happened after."

"It was the Mirakuru, Slade, not you."

"I was a monster before the Mirakuru, kid. It amplified what was within me."

"If that were true, I wouldn't be here. You're a good man Slade. Take it from someone who's the master of blaming himself, it doesn't do you any good." Slade crackled a smile, and began chuckling, confusing Oliver.

"What has this world come to?" he said, "Oliver Queen is kicking my arse in training and giving me advice? Something must be wrong," he finished, as he and Oliver laughed together once again.

"Times are changing, Slade. Times are changing," said Oliver, as he patted Slade on the shoulder before making his way to the exit of the training room.

* * *

After a shower and a change of clothes, Oliver ran up the stairs of the main floor of the DEO, heading for the med-bay to check up on Kara. Winn had activated the bug, and they were now keeping a 24 hour channel open on it so they could hear everything that Lacroix was doing and saying. So far, it was just the usual jargon you'd hear from a CEO of a company, but sooner or later, he had to give them something. With Lacroix on his mind, Oliver wasn't focused as he indifferently walked into the med-bay. He froze in his steps when he saw Alex and another blonde, older middle-aged woman by Kara's bedside, talking to her. The three of them all turned to look at him as he entered.

"Sorry, did I walk in on something?" asked Oliver shyly.

"No, no, it's okay," said Kara. Oliver was pleased to see her now being able to speak up, along with her face looking much better as her injuries were healing too, "Oliver, this is my adoptive mother, Eliza. Eliza, this is Oliver, my friend from Earth-1."

"Mrs Danvers, pleasure to meet you," said Oliver, as he extended a hand while she stood up and walked towards him.

"Thank you for bringing her home, Oliver. I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank you for saving her life," said Eliza endearingly.

"Oh, there's no need for that. I was just doing what any friend would do."

"Oliver is the Green Arrow," said Alex.

"Oh, really. I tried archery when I was a child, but I was horrible at it," joked Eliza, as she sat back down on her chair.

"Well, it does take years to master," replied Oliver.

"Any update on Lacroix?" asked Alex.

"No, nothing yet," replied Oliver.

"Lacroix?" asked Eliza. Oliver, surprised that they hadn't informed Eliza who was behind what happened to Kara, turned to look back at Alex.

"Uhh, he's the man behind this. He's working with Cadmus," replied Alex, figuring that it would be easier to explain the full details to Eliza at a later stage. Oliver, feeling that he needed to give the three of them some more family time, took a step back before speaking up.

"So, I will let you guys know if anything comes up, or if anything changes. It was nice meeting you Mrs Danvers," said Oliver.

"Likewise," she replied, before Oliver smiled back at her and exited the room.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Arrow and the DEO transport Kara to her apartment.

**_(The DEO – 14:43)_ **

"Alright, going through the plan one more time."

Slade's voice echoed in the conference room of the DEO, as he, Team Arrow, James, Clark, Winn, and J'onn were standing around the table with a digital holographic map of National City hovering on the table in front of them. Alex was with Kara in the med-bay, making sure that she wasn't alone. It was now three days since they rescued her, and they decided that the time was right to transport her. She was recovering, now able to walk freely despite a limp. However, the kryptonite molecules weren't passing through her system, which meant that she still didn't have her powers and was still vulnerable. As a result of this, Slade had concocted a comprehensive transport plan to get her to her apartment safely.

There was still absolutely nothing incriminating coming from the bug in Lacroix's office, and Oliver was beginning to wonder whether or not Lacroix knew it was there and was purposely not giving up anything to just toy with them. With a man of his power, they didn't know how far his influence reached and where he had eyes, so it was best to conceal Kara's transportation as best as possible. With Lacroix being an ally of Cadmus, he probably knew of the DEO, but based off what they knew so far, still didn't know Kara's secret identity. Still, they were rather to be safe than sorry.

"Nyssa is going to go to Kara's apartment immediately after this and wait there," continued Slade, as he explained the transport plan, "As soon as she reaches, two DEO vans are going to leave from here disguised as delivery vehicles. One van will be driven by Roy and James, the other by Oliver and Alex, who will have Kara with them. The vans will stop at Wood's Hardware and the Pet's Corner to make pseudo-deliveries before going to Kara's apartment. Once there, they'll drive into this alleyway, concealing them from the view of the public. Oliver will get out in civilian clothing before the vans drive back out into the open and let Kara out in the delivery clothing. Oliver will shadow Kara into her apartment building, and then Nyssa will come out a few moments later in the exact same clothing as Kara, giving the illusion that she's come back out. While this is all happening, Clark will be shadowing from the skies, I'll be stationed on a rooftop with an overview of the area surrounding Kara's apartment and Maggie will be right by the entrance to Kara's apartment. Any final questions?"

Slade looked around the room, and was met only with faces of determination and focus.

"Alright. We roll out in 15," said Slade, as they all nodded and dispersed from the room to get ready. Oliver instead headed straight for the med-bay, knocking on the door politely before entering. Alex and Kara sat on the bed next to each other, and both turned their heads to look at Oliver.

"We're moving out in 15 minutes. You should get ready," said Oliver to Alex.

"Right," said Alex, who smiled at her sister and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder before standing up and exiting, leaving Oliver and Kara alone in the room. Oliver smiled before approaching her, thoroughly pleased to see her beauty returning as the black eye she once had dissipated and the cuts on her arms were healed.

"Hey," he said warmly, as he walked up to in front of her.

"Hey," she replied, reciprocating the smile he was giving her.

"Are you ready?" asked Oliver.

"Yeah," she replied, trying to appear confident, but the nervousness and anxiety in her body language and on her face was far too evident to dispute.

"Hey," said Oliver before placing his hand on her shoulder, "It's going to be okay. I'm going to be there with you the whole time," he said reassuringly.

Kara placed her hands on his, smiling appreciatively at him before she stood up and walked out the room with him.

* * *

_**(DEO Parking Garage - 15:00)** _

"Slade, what's your status?" spoke Oliver into the comms device as he sat with Kara in the back of the van.

_"In position."_

"Nyssa?" asked Oliver.

_"In position."_

"Alright, we're good to go. Let's move out," said Oliver. Within no more than a few seconds, Alex started the van up, and they began the drive. Their van was going out first, while Roy and James were trailing behind them. The reasons for employing two vans were so that one could act as a decoy, and if they were attacked, they could provide back-up for each other. Despite them having Clark watching them, they knew that Lacroix and Cadmus likely still had kryptonite with them, and thus they could still rely on Slade and the others to provide back-up in case Clark was compromised. Oliver didn't take his eyes off Kara for a second throughout the ride. She was trying to hide her fear and anxiousness, but for Oliver, it was obvious.

Suddenly, the van bumped violently, causing Kara to flinch and Oliver to jolt upright to look towards Alex.

"Sorry. Hit a pothole," said Alex apologetically. Oliver let out a breath of relief, letting go of the thought that they were being ambushed. He relaxed back onto his seat, taking him a second to realise the softness he was feeling in his left hand. Looking down towards it, he saw that he had grabbed Kara's hand as soon as the van hit the bump. He looked up at Kara's face, seeing her become slightly more relaxed, but also shocked upon feeling Oliver's hand intertwined with hers. Their eyes met, and they both gave each other comforting but nervous smiles as their hands slowly let go of each other's.

A few minutes later, they felt the van come to a stop and turn into a parking.

"First delivery coming up," said Alex, as she exited the van to drop a package off at Wood's Hardware, returning just a few moments later to continue the drive.

* * *

_"Package is dropped off."_

"Alex has made the delivery. Our drop-off is coming up soon," said Roy.

"Roger," acknowledged James, "Hey, you never told me how you met Oliver?" asked James curiously.

"I'm dating his sister," replied Roy, bluntly.

"What? Really?" replied James, out of shock, "Man, you got some serious balls."

"Comes with the job, doesn't it?"

"Can't argue with that."

* * *

 _"Dropping off our package,"_ heard Oliver over the comms from James.

With the two pseudo-deliveries done, it was now time for them to go to Kara's apartment. Everything had gone smoothly and to plan so far. They could only hope that that would be the case now.

"We're around the corner from the apartment. Get ready," said Alex, prompting Oliver to put on his trench-coat, "Entering the alleyway now," said Alex a few moments later.

After a couple of seconds, the van came to a stop, and Oliver quickly opened the back door of the van and hopped out. Immediately upon jumping out, he saw Roy and James in the van behind them. They both gave him a nod, which he slightly returned before stepping out of the way and letting the vans drive out of the alleyway. The cold breeze of the National City air hit him immediately when he stepped out. It was an unusually chilly day, as Oliver looked up to the sky to see the mostly overcast sky with few breaks in the clouds allowing scarce sunlight to shine through. He walked out of the alleyway behind the vans, walking onto the sidewalk of the road. He saw Roy and James park their van several meters in front of him and get off to enter the coffee shop in front of the entrance to Kara's apartment building just as he heard Alex's voice blare up on the comms.

_"Guys, we have a slight problem."_

"What is it?" asked Oliver.

_"There's no parking directly in front of the entrance."_

Oliver sighed out of frustration when he heard her say those words, immediately spotting her having to park her van across the street from Kara's apartment. The plan was originally to park the van right in front of the entrance of the van to minimize the risk of people seeing her and of an attacker getting a clear shot at her. Now, she was going to have to cross a road in broad daylight, completely vulnerable and exposed.

"It's alright. I'll walk with her," replied Oliver.

"Don't worry, we got you guys covered," said Roy, as Oliver walked past him.

_"Slade and I will be extra alert."_

"Thanks, Clark," replied Oliver as he continued walking towards Alex's van. He watched as Kara got out of the back of the van, holding a medium-sized box in her hands. Her hair was tied up and hidden by the cap she was wearing, which also partially concealed her face. He walked until he was right next to her once again. She turned to look at him, and he offered a friendly half-smile that one would normally give to a stranger. Oliver looked to his right, seeing Maggie leaning on the bonnet of her police car, inconspicuously drinking a coffee. She gave him a nod before Oliver and Kara began to cross the road.

Step, by step, by step.

Each one feeling as if it took an eternity to complete. With Kara out in the open, all of them were looking around suspiciously and scrutinising the details around them. Roy and James looking at the cars around them, Slade looking at the surrounding buildings through the scope of his sniper rifle, while Clark was scanning the whole area with his x-ray vision, leaving no stone unturned.

Oliver walked with Kara just behind her to her right, keeping his eyes on her the entire time. He could see her hands beginning to tremble, shaking as she held the box. Her breathing was becoming erratic, as Oliver could see her hyperventilating as she continued walking across the street.

"Kara, relax… you got this," whispered Oliver, just loud enough so that she could hear him. Despite his words, she continued to slowly lose control over herself as she felt her own heart pounding against her chest. Each of them felt the tension of the situation as she walked. Roy, James and Maggie all kept their hands hovering above their sidearm holsters, Clark felt his eyes start to heat up involuntary, and Slade's finger moulded to the shape of the trigger of his sniper rifle. If anything was going to happen, it was going to happen now.

Edging closer and closer to the entrance, they were soon off the road and onto the sidewalk. Kara paced towards the door to her building, and Oliver quickly ran up to beside her as she approached the door. He quickly pulled out the keys to the door from his pocket and unlocked it, opening it for Kara as her hyperventilation became audible. She quickly paced into the building as soon as the door opened, with Oliver following behind her and closing the door behind him. Everybody on the team let out a deep breath, for Kara was now safe and secure.

Kara dropped the box from her hand and flung the cap off her head, with Oliver quickly placing his hands on her shoulders and looking deep into her watery eyes.

"Kara, it's okay… It's okay. You're safe now," he said. The tears started to roll down her eyes, and Oliver lifted his hands to her cheeks, wiping them away with his thumbs. He pulled her close into a hug, which she gladly accepted. She pulled him close tightly, craving the security that he provided her. They only separated when Nyssa appeared a few seconds later, who placed a comforting hand on Kara's shoulder before speaking.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore, dear. You're safe, and we're going to protect you," said Nyssa, before exiting the building. Oliver looked back to Kara, meeting her eyes once again.

"Come on, let's go," said Oliver, gesturing with his head that they go to her apartment unit.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Alex help Kara relax.

Accompanying Kara up the stairs to apartment 4A, Oliver couldn't stop thinking about the moments he was sharing with her. He remembered what he felt the night that he and Kara spoke when he was on Earth-38 the last time, how he felt so comforted by her presence and how he placed so much trust in her. He rarely ever spoke his five years away to anybody. It took him months, and even years before he delved into detail about it to his closest friends, Diggle and Felicity. He'd only spent around a week with Kara before he told her about his first year on Lian Yu. At the time, he believed it was because she was the doppelganger of the woman he loved, but that night was also when he started to see her as more than a doppelganger. He started to see her as her own person, someone different from the Earth-1 Kara that he knew.

The last night before he left Earth-38 was when he first realised what he was beginning to feel for her. The love that he was beginning to develop for her was because of her, not her doppelganger. When he first met her, he could only see and imagine her doppelganger in his mind. By now, that had all changed. He had recognised that they were two mutually exclusive people, which unexpectedly made his feelings for Kara even stronger. What surprised him, was how she returned and welcomed his gestures over the past few days. He wanted to think it was because she was vulnerable, hurt and that his presence made her feel safe, but a glimmer in her eyes made him think it might be a little more than that. But how could it be true? The wound on her heart from her loss of Mon-El had barely begun to heal. Now was not the time for Oliver to tell her how he felt. Plus, there were too many things that would keep them apart, let alone the fact that she was suffering now because of him.

Her apartment door was unlocked, with Nyssa having just been there. Oliver opened it and stepped aside, allowing Kara to walk in first.

"Home sweet home," said Oliver warmly as he walked in behind her. He watched her become less and less agitated with each step into her apartment, as her shoulders relaxed and her head was being held higher and higher. She looked around, studying every corner of her apartment. Oliver saw eyes lingering over the windows, figuring that she was noting the distinct difference of the glass and the metal reinforcing the wooden frames.

"We added bulletproof panes to the windows," said Oliver, drawing out a nod of acknowledgement from Kara. He realised that she was still dressed in the delivery uniform, and thought that maybe she was feeling a little cold due to the weather, "Hey, why don't you change, and I'll make something for you to drink in the meantime. Coffee? Hot chocolate?"

"Hot chocolate," she replied.

"Alright, great," replied Oliver, who turned to walk to the kitchen while Kara went to her room. He filled the kettle with water before letting it boil. He didn't know how Kara liked her hot chocolate, but on a day like this, it was best to make it creamy and milky. A minute later, she came out wearing a grey cotton jersey with grey sweatpants, walking over to the couch and sitting down on it. Oliver walked over to her and handed her the mug before sitting down next to her, waiting for her to take a few sips before speaking up.

"You feeling any better now that you're back here?" asked Oliver politely.

"Yeah," replied Kara, "Just the bulletproof windows are going to need getting used to."

"Don't worry, they're not going to be needed," replied Oliver, reassuringly. Just as he finished speaking, the door to her apartment opened, and Alex came practically running in. Oliver immediately got up from the couch, making space for Alex to sit next to her sister. Alex unintentionally ignored Oliver as she ran next to her sister, hugging her.

"Are you alright? Are you okay?" asked Alex hastily.

"Yeah, it feels a lot better to be back here," replied Kara. Oliver, seeing that she was reunited with her sister, decided to start heading for the exit, but Kara noticed what he was doing, "Where are you going?" she asked.

"I thought I'd give you and Alex some alone time," replied Oliver politely.

"You can stay, Oliver, I don't mind," replied Kara.

"I don't want to intrude Kara," he replied, but he realised what she truly meant as she said her next words.

"No, please stay…" The tone in Kara's voice made Oliver's train of thought halt and just focus on her, "I want you to stay. Please," pleaded Kara. She felt safe when he was around, and Oliver couldn't deny her that, not at this time. He nodded, acknowledging what she meant and walked back to take a seat on the chair next to the couch she was on.

"Do you want to watch something? A movie?" asked Alex to Kara, trying to lift her spirits.

"Sure," replied Kara. Oliver leaned back in the chair, relaxing himself as Alex selected a movie and pressed play.

* * *

**_(Kara's Apartment – 21:38)_ **

A movie and several episodes of Kara's favourite TV series later, night time had fallen and Kara was going to bed. It was a stressful day for everybody involved, but Kara felt particularly a bit more drained than everyone else, as expected. She was in bed already, while Oliver and Alex were in the living room. Oliver was setting up his sleeping bag on the floor, something which caught Alex's attention.

"Hey, what are you doing? You can't sleep on the floor," said Alex concernedly.

"Of course I can," replied Oliver.

"Don't you want to take the couch? You're a guest on this Earth and it wouldn't be right of me to make you sleep on an uncomfortable floor."

"Alex, I spent the better part of five years on an island in the North China Sea. Trust me, I would have killed to sleep on a floor like this during that time," replied Oliver. Alex was content with arguing more, but recognised that Oliver's stubbornness would prevail, so she just accepted her fate and started setting up the blankets and pillows on the couch for herself. Oliver took the time to ask her a question which he needed to know the answer to.

"Hey, are you fine with me staying here?" asked Oliver, curious to know her answer.

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" asked Alex.

"You know… she's your sister, and I know you want to be there for her. I wasn't sure you'd be comfortable with me here."

"Oliver, honestly, I'm fine with it. She trusts you, and you make her feel safe," replied Alex sincerely, "And besides... apart from J'onn, you're probably her only friend that understands what she's been through, and that can help her through it. Kara told me about yours scars. James was tortured by Lex Luthor, but I don't think it was anything like what they did to Kara," continued Alex. Oliver could only nod at Alex's words. She was right. Apart from J'onn, Oliver was the only one who came close to having experienced what Kara had. He pondered what Alex's reaction might be if he had told her that he was tortured just six months ago by Adrian Chase. She climbed into her blankets on the sofa, while Oliver turned off the lights and walked over to the window.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" asked Alex.

"Not yet," replied Oliver, as he stared out of the window of Kara's apartment. He looked far out into the surrounding buildings of her apartment, spotting the hefty figure on a rooftop not far away. Oliver recognised the body type as James, with Roy probably being perched on a rooftop on the other side of Kara's apartment.

While it was impossible for Kara to leave his mind at this moment, he couldn't stop his mind from drifting to a focus on Lacroix. Three full days since Kara was rescued, and still absolutely nothing. The bug was turning out to be useless, and they still had no idea what this 'war' of Lacroix's was going to entail. Oliver couldn't be patient anymore. He pulled out his Earth-38 phone, entering the call app and dialling J'onn J'onnz.

_"Oliver. What's going on?"_

"Simon Lacroix. It's been three days and we still have nothing on him. We can't wait any longer to find out what he's planning."

_"Yeah. What do you have in mind?"_

"Winn needs to hack into the Stellmoor International mainframe servers ASAP. There has to be some clues in there that can tie him to Cadmus or his activities in Komodo."

_"Right. I'll get him on it immediately."_

Oliver hung up the phone before looking back up at the National City moon. A storm was coming, and it was going to be arriving soon.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Arrow and the DEO discover the next phase of Lacroix's plan, and Oliver shares a few moments with Kara.

Kara woke up the next morning to a strong aroma of spices wafting through the air in her apartment. She quickly brushed her teeth before making her way out of her room to the kitchen, surprised to see Oliver Queen at work in the kitchen, cooking something on the stove.

"Good morning," he said, without turning around, continuing to stir the contents of the pan in front of him, "Awake just in time," he said before switching off the stove, and walking with the pan towards her, placing it on the kitchen island in front of her. She looked down to see the golden scrambled eggs littered with green and red specks as fried pieces of chilli and tomato were spread amongst the eggs in the pan. Kara could only smile at Oliver in disbelief, as the mere smell of the eggs were enough to make her hungry.

"You can cook?" said Kara in surprise, before grabbing a fork to taste.

"Of course. How do you think I survived on the island?" replied Oliver playfully.

"I assumed that Slade was the one doing all the cooking," replied Kara jokingly, before placing a piece in her mouth. Her brow furrowed out of approval as she chewed, "Wow, this is really good."

"Glad you like it," said Oliver, walking to the coffee maker and handing Kara her coffee, "How are you feeling?"

"Good. The food is making me feel a lot better," replied Kara cheerfully. Oliver smiled, and contemplated while she ate for several seconds, wondering if it was okay for him to ask the question he was about to ask.

"Any improvement on your powers?" asked Oliver, drawing out a solemn shake of the head from Kara. She still didn't have them, but hopefully it was just a matter of time before they came back.

"Hey, umm, where's Alex?" asked Kara, changing the topic.

"She got called in to the DEO. Alien homicide," answered Oliver, "What do you want to do today? More binging?"

"Sure," replied Kara. She was going to be confined to her apartment for several days, if not weeks. Even though he wanted to be here for her, Oliver knew that he was facing a tough task in trying to help her recover. For now, binging was good to get her mind off things, but soon, she was going to have to confront what happened to her.

* * *

A few hours into the afternoon, the National City sun was slowly about to set as the blue sky was turning to darken with a hue of orange. Binging sit-coms with Kara would normally be the ideal way to take his mind off things, but him just being here with her meant that he could only think about her wellbeing and the situation with Lacroix. There was a knock on the apartment door, and without Kara's x-ray vision, Oliver cautiously walked towards the door. Placing his eye against the peephole to look out, he immediately relaxed and opened the door when he saw who it was. Maggie.

"Hey," said Maggie with a smile.

"Hi. What's going on?" replied Oliver.

"They want you at the DEO. I'm here to stay with Kara while you go," replied Maggie, holding up a packet of Big Belly Burger as she finished her sentence.

"Oh, alright." Oliver stepped aside allowing Maggie to enter, walking with her back to the couch to collect his black jacket.

"What's happening?" asked Kara as they walked towards her.

"I need to go to the DEO for a bit, Maggie is going to stay here with you," said Oliver as he flipped his jacket around his arms.

"Oh, ok," replied Kara. Oliver noticed her disappointment. Perhaps she was starting to enjoy his company.

"I won't be gone for long," reassured Oliver, as he headed for the door while Maggie hugged Kara and sat next to her.

* * *

Stepping out of the elevator to the DEO and walking to the control hub, Oliver immediately saw the coding prompts on the big screens of the DEO. Numbers and programming codes being typed in furiously, before an 'Access Denied' prompt jolted up on the screen, accompanied by an error sound.

"Dammit!"

Winn's yell coincided with his fist slamming into his desk out of frustration.

"It's ok, Winn. You'll crack it," said Roy, who was standing next to him.

"I've been working at this the whole day! I don't know why I can't get in!" screamed Winn once again.

"What's going on?" asked Oliver as he approached them.

"I've been trying to hack into the Stellmoor International mainframe, but I freakin' can't!" replied Winn.

"We've been working harder at it ever since the homicides," replied Roy.

"Homicides?" asked Oliver. There were more than one…

"Yes." Oliver turned to his left to see Alex and J'onn walking towards them, with Alex holding a pistol in her hand, "There were two more alien homicides today in National City. We picked this up off an apprehended suspect. Cadmus agent," said Alex, handing it to Oliver.

Oliver inspected the weapon in his hand, recognising the unique design which was familiar to him. It was similar to a Beretta 92FS, with only slight differences to the design of the back-strap and muzzle. He looked to the slide of the gun, and the small logo next to the company manufacturer didn't surprise him. Stellmoor International.

"Lacroix is supplying Cadmus with weapons," said Oliver as he came to the realisation.

"It's probably more than that. Safehouses, funds, you name it," replied J'onn.

"This is his plan. He's giving Cadmus everything they need to eliminate aliens in National City," continued Oliver.

"Not just National City," added Roy, "There were two murders in Arizona and Central City, too. They may be random, but they're more than likely connected."

"Any way we can trace this back to Lacroix? There has to be a trail," asked Oliver.

"Unfortunately, there isn't," replied J'onn.

"Which is why we've been trying harder to break into the Stellmoor mainframe. There ought to be something there tying him to Cadmus," added Winn, "We know he's probably smart enough to send any information discreetly and wire any transfers to Cadmus through off-shore accounts, but if we can find the transfers to those accounts and who authorised them…"

"Then we'll be able to back-trace it to Lacroix," said Oliver, finishing Winn's sentence for him. A separate prompt popped up on the screen, and they all sighed when they saw what the notification was.

"Another body dropped. San Francisco," said Winn.

"Winn, have you made any kind of progress on getting into the mainframe?" asked Oliver.

"Yeah, a little but it's basically useless," replied Winn, annoyed, "Every time I think I crack a firewall, another one pops up and I just can't seem to get through. I hope whoever is working digital security for Lacroix is getting paid more than what I am getting here," joked Winn out of frustration.

"Keep working at it," encouraged Oliver, "If you're not in by tomorrow morning, we're going to need a new plan."

"Got anything in mind?" asked Roy.

"We can do it like how we did the Merlyn job," replied Oliver.

"The Merlyn job?" asked Roy, surprised that Oliver suggested it.

"The Merlyn job?" repeated Alex, confused.

"We get somebody into the Stellmoor International building, get them direct access to the mainframe servers and they download everything from there," explained Oliver.

"Risky, but we might have to do it," replied J'onn, "Agent Schott, I need you to pull up the schematics and blueprints of the Stellmoor International building along with thermal scans. I'll look over them and see how we can do it."

"Right. I'm going to get back to Kara, call me if there's any progress," said Oliver, as he walked away from them.

* * *

With Oliver still in possession of the keys to Kara's apartment, he unlocked the door and entered. He saw Maggie give Kara a hug before standing up and walking towards Oliver.

"Thanks for staying," said Oliver.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be outside in my patrol car for the next couple of hours if you need anything," replied Maggie.

"Sure," replied Oliver before stepping out of her way to let her leave. He looked back to Kara still sitting on the couch, who offered a half-smile before speaking up.

"What did they need you at the DEO for?" asked Kara.

"Oh, they, uhh…" Oliver didn't know how to answer her. He thought if he told her the truth, it would put more stress on her.

"It was because of the homicides, right?" she asked.

"How did you know?" asked Oliver, surprised.

"I saw it on the news," replied Kara. Oliver nodded as he sat back down next to her, "It's related to Lacroix, isn't it?" she asked.

"Cadmus is using his tech and money to operate. We're working on a plan to expose him," replied Oliver succinctly, "Is it bothering you?"

"I can't help but think that if I had my powers, I could have saved their lives," replied Kara, downcast.

"They're going to come back," replied Oliver, "Just give it more time."

Kara nodded, acknowledging Oliver's words before continuing to stare blankly at the TV. Oliver recognised something else was working on her mind, something that was troubling her.

"Something else is on your mind," said Oliver, concernedly.

"It's…" Kara tried to reply, because she was struggling to open up and let the words vocalise. Oliver recognised that it was something that was hard to speak about, probably relating to her torture.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," said Oliver warmly.

"No, it's okay…" replied Kara quickly, "When Lacroix had me… I was having these dreams… hallucinations. Of Mon-El. I was having these dreams that he was coming back to save me… but he couldn't… because he'd remind me that he was dead, because of my failure to save him."

"Mon-El isn't dead, Kara. The universe is a big, big place. He's alive out there. Somewhere." Oliver was saying these words to comfort and convince Kara, but he too was trying to convince himself. She was right that he was more than likely dead, but he couldn't allow her to think like that right now, "And the fact that he's gone isn't your fault. If I'm not mistaken, a wise somebody once told you that blaming yourself wasn't one of your superpowers," he said with a smile. She immediately recognised his reference to what he told her the last time on Earth-38, and smiled back at him.

"Oh yeah, _very_ wise," replied Kara sarcastically.

"Definitely," replied Oliver humourously, as he and Kara both giggled. He missed seeing and hearing her laugh. He couldn't help but smile even more as he saw her somewhat happy for the first time since she'd been back, "You want me to cook for dinner?"

"Oh, you don't have to," replied Kara.

"I don't mind," replied Oliver, looking at Kara with a face of question, "What do you want?"

"How about… something light… A chicken salad," replied Kara.

"Really?" asked Oliver, surprised by her choice.

"Yeah, can you make it?"

"Of course I can. I make excellent chicken salad," boasted Oliver.

"I'll be the judge of that," said Kara humorously. Oliver nodded, accepting the challenge as he stood up and headed towards the kitchen.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver witnesses Cadmus' in action first hand while Kara and Nyssa have a chat.

**_(National City – 08:29)_ **

Oliver exited Noonan's with a whole lot of sticky buns. He'd cooked dinner last night, and although Kara approved of his chicken salad, he decided not to make breakfast, hoping to surprise her with sticky buns. Alex had left to go to the DEO, so he told Nyssa to go sit in her apartment in case she woke up. It didn't matter who Kara was with during these times, it was just for the best that she wasn't alone. Hastily walking the streets of National City, Oliver glanced at his wrist-watch once again… 08:30, on the dot. He pulled out his phone and dialled Winn. After a couple of rings, he answered.

_"Hello. You're on speaker."_

"Any luck?" asked Oliver.

_"Unfortunately, no. Looks like we're going to have to pull off Merlyn Job 2.0."_

"Alright. What's the plan?" asked Oliver.

_"Roy told us how you did it on your world. Not going to work exactly the same here."_ Winn's high-pitched voice was replaced by the sound of J'onn's gruff one, who continued to explain the plan, _"The building security is hired through a company called Blackhawk Security. Winn can hack the employee list and that's how we can get somebody into the monitoring hub as a guard. The only problem is the server room itself."_

"What about it?"

_"There are only two ways to enter the room. Either through Lacroix's biometrics or an access code that changes every 45 seconds. We're most likely going to have to use Lacroix's biometrics."_ Oliver sighed as he heard the revelation.

"Just keep me updated," said Oliver as he hung up the phone.

He continued walking through the streets, making his way back to Kara's apartment. He entered into a short alleyway, spotting a familiar short woman standing in the middle of the pathway, smoking a cigarette. Lyra. Winn's girlfriend. Oliver hadn't met her before, but he'd seen pictures and heard of her.

"Lyra!" called out Oliver. The lady whipped around, cautiously looking at Oliver.

"Who are you and how do you know me?" she demanded.

"My name is Oliver. I'm friends with Winn," explained Oliver.

"Oh, great," she replied sarcastically, confusing Oliver, "What, has he sent you as a mediator?"

"Uhh, no, I just… You two aren't together anymore?"

"Didn't he tell you? Where have you been for the past two months?"

"I was… out of town."

Lyra simply scoffed as she threw the cigarette to the floor and stomped it. Just as she and Oliver were about to walk separate ways, two vans pulled up on either side of the alleyway, blocking their path out. Two men in all black clothing got out from each van, holding the Stellmoor International pistols that Oliver recognised immediately. Cadmus agents.

"Don't even think about using your powers," screamed one Cadmus agent at Lyra. Oliver and Lyra hesitantly raised their hands as the Cadmus agents approached them. The two in front of Oliver stood focused on him, while he heard the other two place power dampening cuffs on Lyra.

"Hey, what about this one? He's not an alien," said one of the agents in front of Oliver.

"No witnesses," replied an agent behind Oliver. The words caused Oliver to quickly spring into action, as he quickly grabbed the wrist of the agent closer to him, twisting the gun out of his hand and spinning around to throw him to the floor with an arm toss. The first move Slade had taught him. The other agent fired a shot at where Oliver's head would've been if Oliver hadn't ducked a split-second earlier, as he crouched on one knee and quickly used the gun to fire a shot at the other agent's shoulder. Oliver stood up and turned back around to fire at agents dragging Lyra away. He shot the one holding her, but the other agent managed to jump in the van and drive off as Oliver's shots didn't penetrate the bulletproof van. Lyra had been hit in the crossfire as Oliver spotted blood around her while she lay on the floor. He quickly pulled out his phone to dial 9-1-1, but there was no need as Clark landed next to Oliver just as he came up next to Lyra's body.

"I'll take her to the DEO," said Clark, as he quickly picked up her body and burst up into the sky.

* * *

_**(Kara's Apartment - 08:37)** _

Kara was met with the surprise of Nyssa sitting on her couch when she woke up, looking at the picture frame of her and Alex from when they were just teenagers.

"Nyssa?" she said, out of surprise.

"Kara," said Nyssa, as she raised her head to look at her, "Oliver's gone to get breakfast, so he just told me to come here in case you woke up."

"Oh, okay," replied Kara, as she walked to the kitchen.

"Sorry, I hope you don't think I'm intruding, I just couldn't stop admiring this photo of you and Alex."

"No, it's alright. It's one of my favourite pictures with her."

"I'm sure. You can tell just from looking at it how much you two care for each other," said Nyssa, as joined Kara by the kitchen island table, "I wish I had a relationship like that with my sister."

"You have a sister?" asked Kara out of surprise.

"Had," said Nyssa, correcting her, "She was on Lian Yu when the explosions went off. I doubt she made it out of there alive."

"Why didn't you two have the best relationship?" asked Kara curiously.

"Well, when you're born and raised as members of the League of Assassins… let's just say you don't exactly have traditional sibling relationships."

"Not to make an understatement, but the League of Assassins definitely don't sound like the type of people who you'd want to raise a child."

"Of course not. As part of the League, you're forced to become a warrior with little remorse. You're taught to not be… human."

"You're not like that," complimented Kara.

"I would be… if it wasn't for Sara. She's the one who taught me compassion and love."

"How did you and Sara meet?"

"I rescued her off Lian Yu. I found her at death's door, starving."

"Are there any happy stories from Lian Yu?" asked Kara playfully.

"Not that I know of, darling," replied Nyssa, equally playful.

* * *

Oliver strolled into Kara's apartment with a confident façade, slightly surprised to see Nyssa and Kara sitting together at the kitchen island.

"You've returned, husband," quipped Nyssa mischievously, causing Kara to almost spit out her coffee.

"Husband?" said Kara, bewildered.

"Yes, didn't you know Oliver and I are married?" asked Nyssa.

"Divorced," added Oliver quickly, before he held up the Noonan's packet and placed it in front of Kara on the table, "Got you more sticky buns."

"Thanks," said Kara as she immediately pulled one out and ate it. Oliver looked back to Nyssa, who was still smiling mischievously before she stood up, "Where are you going?" asked Kara.

"I should get breakfast for myself. No offense but sticky buns aren't my thing," said Nyssa playfully, "No Noonan's in Nanda Parbat of course. I'll see you two later," she said with a smile before exiting the apartment. Oliver watched her leave, but was jolted back into looking at Kara when he felt her hit his arm as soon as Nyssa was out the door.

"Ouch."

"How could you not tell me that you and Nyssa were married?" asked Kara, with her tone a mix of shock and pleasant surprise.

"We weren't really married," replied Oliver, but Kara was still shocked.

"You brought your ex-wife here? That's even weirder than Slade and Roy working together despite Slade having once kidnapped Roy's girlfriend… who's your sister!" rambled Kara, causing Oliver to chuckle a little.

"Nyssa and I were very complicated. It's a long story," replied Oliver.

"We have time," replied Kara quickly. Oliver thought he was picking up a hint of jealousy in her words, but realised that he was perhaps reading too much into it.

"Alright…" he said, before beginning the story, "Nyssa's father was Ra's Al Ghul, the leader of the League of Assassins. Ra's wanted me to take his place and be his heir, an offer which I initially declined until I learnt the only way to take him down would be from the inside of his organisation. So I joined the League, and to gain his trust I had to participate in an arranged marriage with Nyssa. Arranged… There were no feelings between us. It wasn't consummated either, and Nyssa annulled the marriage a long time ago. She still calls me husband just to mess with me."

"Hmm... Ok. It's not that long of a story," quipped Kara.

"I left out a lot." As he finished his sentence, Oliver's phone buzzed and he saw the text message from Alex.

_'Lyra stabilised. She's going to be okay.'_

Oliver let out a sigh of relief as he heard the good news. The homicides were increasing, with the death toll rising to 8 with just two days having passed. Now, they were kidnapping aliens too. Cadmus had never been this bold before, and the only way to stop them would be cut them off from Stellmoor, soon.

* * *

**_(The DEO - 12:23)_ **

J'onn and Winn solemnly watched the news report that was coming in live. A car bomb explosion in New York, with nearly a dozen casualties, most of them alien. More abductions, more murders elsewhere in the world. National City could soon be a warzone at this rate. Cadmus claimed responsibility for the attacks not long after. J'onn and Winn heard the woosh behind them as Clark flew into the DEO, wearing a look of frustration.

"I can't be everywhere J'onn," said Clark as he walked towards them.

"I know. I've sent several agents out there on the streets but there's not much else we can do," replied J'onn.

"These attacks are only going to escalate, we have to do something now."

"Clark, we can't do anything until Lacroix is out of his office. 30 seconds isn't enough time to decipher the code and the only place we can get Lacroix's biometrics is from his office."

"So let's get him out," said Clark adamantly, "Winn, get me a direct line to his office."

"Wait, what?" replied Winn in surprise, "Are you going to just ask him to give us access to the mainframe servers nicely?"

"I did an interview with him years back, maybe he'll remember and I can get him out of the building for another. I know it's a long shot, but we have to try." Winn nodded, as he quickly searched for the number to Lacroix's office, promptly typing it in to a mobile phone and handing it to Clark. He placed it on speaker so that J'onn and Winn could hear what Lacroix was saying.

_"Stellmoor International, how may I help you?"_ They were surprised to hear the voice of a young female answering instead of Lacroix. It was probably his secretary.

"Uhh, hi, I'd like to speak with Mr Lacroix. Tell him it's Clark Kent, from the Daily Planet."

_"Alright, just give me one moment sir."_

After waiting for a couple of more seconds, Lacroix's smooth, tame voice blared up on the speaker, _"Clark Kent. Long time, no talk, my friend."_ Clark had to stop himself from cringing as he heard Lacroix call him 'a friend'.

"Simon, how are you?"

_"Good, good, my friend. And you?"_

"Never been better. So much has changed since we last spoke, I'm surprised you remembered me."

_"Of course. You've won another Pulitzer and Stellmoor International has grown to a global powerhouse. Partly due to you of course, that piece you did all those years back was influential in getting us off the ground."_

"Glad to hear it," replied Clark, even though he meant the total opposite, "I know this is short notice, but I'm in Seattle for the next couple of days, and I was wondering if you'd like to do another interview."

_"Oh, no, sorry my friend, I'm stuck in shareholder meetings for the rest of today and whole of tomorrow. In fact, I'm late for one right now."_

"I won't hold you up any longer then. Perhaps another time."

_"Another time."_

Clark promptly hung up the phone before speaking up.

"If he's in shareholder meetings that means he won't be in his office," he said.

"Yeah. Winn, you got into the Blackhawk employee list, right?" asked J'onn.

"Yeah, I just need to know whose name to slot in," replied Winn.

"Put yours. Clark will enter Lacroix's office from the balcony, get the biometrics and then make his way to the servers. You can walk him through it," said J'onn, "The guards change shifts at 15:00. That's when we make our move."


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark and Winn "break" into Stellmoor International.

**_[Seattle – 15:07]_ **

Winn nervously, but excitedly walked into the Stellmoor International building in Seattle, gripping the packet of Big Belly Burger in his right hand while his upper body remained rigid due to the tightness of the security shirt. Already with a fake security guard uniform, he waltzed past the security desk, past the elevators to a hallway on the right side of the building. Turning the corner, he scanned the words written on the doors hastily. He was late, but luckily, the guy wasn't going too mad at him for it. He found the door he was looking for – _Security Control Room: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY._ Winn swiped his tag on the card scanner, unlocking the door. He was met with the sight of a disgruntled, middle-aged bald man sitting in a chair in front of the CCTV screens.

"You're late, new guy," he said, as his heavy Brooklyn accent took Winn by surprise.

"Sorry, it's my first day, had to bring something for us to start off on the right foot," replied Winn, as he held up the packet of Big Belly Burger.

"Hmm… I like you already," replied the man jovially, who immediately grabbed the packet and took out a Big Belly Buster burger. Winn sat on the chair next to him, eagerly anticipating him to take a bite of the burger. Sure enough, he did a few seconds later. Now, he just had to wait for the benzodiazepines to kick in.

* * *

_"Clark, you're good to go."_

Clark immediately took flight towards the balcony of Simon Lacroix's office, grasping tightly the laser scanner which would be used to pick up Lacroix's fingerprints. Lacroix's balcony doors were already open, so Clark just flew right in.

"Talk to me Winn."

_"It's his offices, so his fingerprints should be everywhere. Best place to get them would be from his keyboard."_

With that, Clark walked over to the keyboard and placed the tip of the scanner over it. The blue UV light highlighted the fingerprints on the keys of the keyboard. The 'alt' keys had the clearest thumb prints, and Clark waited a second for the machine to scan before he pressed the eject button, causing a plastic sheet with the print to pop out the bottom of it.

"I got it."

Within seconds, Clark burst out of the office and found himself back in his civilian clothes, walking into Stellmoor International no longer as Superman, but as Clark Kent. Walking briskly past the security desk towards the Security Control Room, he found Winn standing by the door, waiting for him. As Clark walked past him, Winn tossed him the security badge he needed to use the restricted access elevator. Clark simply nodded thankfully as he continued to walk ahead, making his way to the elevator. The badge worked like a charm, as it opened the elevator doors for him.

_"The servers are on floor 13."_

Stepping out of the elevator as it reached the 13th floor, Clark immediately took a sharp left turn, navigating his way through the hallway until he reached the server room. He placed the plastic sheet against the fingerprint scanner, and pressed it down. It worked like a charm, as Clark opened the door, leading him into a small office-like room, shaped like an L. He entered, turning right at the far corner of the room, to find another door, this one unlocked. It led him to the server room, with the servers placed against the walls, surrounding the three monitors in the center of the room.

"Right, so where do I plug this in?" asked Clark, as he took out the hard drive he was keeping in his pocket.

_"Look right next to the central screen, there should be a wire with a connection port for transfers."_

Clark hastily grabbed it, and plugged the hard drive in. The prompt immediately appeared on the computer screen, asking for confirmation for a full data transfer. _Yes._

* * *

Winn sat back on his chair, watching the data transfer anxiously as he couldn't stop his foot from uncontrollably tapping. With terraflops of data having to be transferred, it was taking several minutes for it all to transfer. Winn glanced at the camera monitor of the board meeting Lacroix was supposed to be in. He wasn't there anymore. Winn hastily looked over the other cameras, trying to catch a glimpse of where Lacroix was. He was outside the room, making a call. Within seconds, several guards in the facility near the server room abandoned their positions.

"Uhh, Clark, you have a problem."

_"What?"_

"Lacroix knows you're here and there's a ton of guards heading your way."

_"The download is 92% complete."_

"Clark, you're not going to have time to get out of there if you stay for the rest."

_"Of course, I will. I'm Superman."_

"Point taken." More seconds passed, and the platoon of guards spearheaded by Lacroix were closing the distance to the mainframe room, "Clark, you have to get out of there."

_"99%."_

Winn watched as Lacroix placed his thumb against the scanner before flinging the door open, causing him to no longer contain his stress, "Clark, go now!" he screamed.

_"Done."_

With that, Clark basically disappeared from the screen, as Lacroix and the guards ran into the server room to find nobody. Winn realised that guards would soon probably converge on his location too, and quickly started tapping into the security camera footage, removing all the footage of him and Clark. As soon as he was done with that, he ripped the security shirt off, revealing an ordinary one below. Mission accomplished.

* * *

**_(National City – 16:31)_ **

"Hello."

Oliver Queen answered the phone call from J'onn as he stared out the window of Kara's apartment, hoping to hear some good news.

_"Winn and Clark are back. They got the data."_

"Great, great. That's good. How long before we find something?" asked Oliver, eagerly.

_"The data is still encrypted, but it's crack-able. It should only take Winn a couple of hours to get through, but then sorting through a global company's entire data set is probably going to take some more time."_

"Alright. Just keep me posted."

With the data in their hands now, it was only a matter of time before the public knew who Simon Lacroix really was.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Kara share a couple of moments while Winn discovers not all is as it seems with the Stellmoor server files.

**_(National City – 21:27)_ **

Oliver Queen was steadily woken from his sleep by the sounds of whimpers coming from Kara's bedroom. He had drifted off to sleep far easier than he'd have liked. With Alex working over-time at the DEO the past two nights, Oliver was staying with Kara alone, and hadn't slept for nearly 36 hours, as he preferred to be awake when she slept. He was used to functioning on minimal sleep, but the human body always had its limits. He rose to his feet, and hastily walked into her bedroom, but she wasn't there. She was in the bathroom, Oliver spotting her slouched over the toilet seat, having regurgitated whatever was in her system. She was taking deep breaths, trying to relax her body. Oliver concernedly walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. His demeanour changed to one of shock when he saw the red-tainted water in the toilet bowl.

"Kara, you're vomiting blood," he said, disturbed.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not, I need to get you to the DEO, you need to see a doctor," insisted Oliver, panicking as the worst-case scenarios of what was happening to her ran through his mind.

"Oliver, it's okay. Eliza said that this might happen. It's the only way the kryptonite can leave my body." Oliver calmed slightly upon hearing this news, but he still couldn't stop worrying about her. "Please, just help me up," requested Kara. Oliver placed his arms under her shoulders, gently pulling her to her feet. He closed the toilet seat before flushing, and helped her to her bed. Once she was sat comfortably, he quickly galloped to the kitchen and filled her a glass of water.

"Here, drink," he said as he handed the glass to her and sat next to her. She gulped it down, placing the empty glass on her bedside before turning back to face Oliver, the worry on his face as present as ever.

"Hey, this is good news. It means I might be getting my powers back," said Kara, trying to be hopeful, "Thank you for being here over the past few days Oliver. I don't think I'd have been able to cope with you."

"You don't need to thank me, Kara. I'm going to be here for you, for as long as you need me."

Their eyes met, and for a fleeting moment, Oliver and Kara both felt the butterflies in their stomach strut around.

The feeling of bliss was cut short when Oliver's cellphone started ringing. He gave Kara a smile before leaving her room and heading back to the couch where he had left it. It was J'onn.

"Tell me you've found something."

_"Sorry, Oliver. It's a dead end."_

"What?"

_"Lacroix must have expected we'd pull off something like this, and put in a fail-safe. The files… they're all corrupted."_

* * *

**_(Seattle – 21:38)_ **

Simon Lacroix stared out the windows of his office, overlooking the city of Seattle. So far, everything was going to plan. Having fooled his adversaries into thinking they had acquired evidence on him, and with Cadmus continuing to wage war against aliens, it was only a matter of time before Oliver Queen gave in. As if on cue with his thoughts, his cellphone began to ring, with the private, encrypted number telling him exactly who it was.

_"What is it going to take for this to stop?"_

"I must say, Oliver, your naivety in thinking you could just waltz into my building and simply download everything from my company servers didn't fail to amuse me."

_"Simon… Tell me how this ends!"_

"I seem to remember telling you about the Arrow Totem…"

_"You mentioned it."_

"Right. Since you're the reason I don't have it, I think it's only fair that you should go get it for me."

_"I'm not one of your henchmen that you can order around like a lap-dog."_

"Innocent lives are being lost every day Mr Queen. Surely you can put your ego aside, no? Find the totem, and bring it to me, or else I'll find your super-friend once again, and I'll put a kryptonite bullet in her skull this time."

With those final words, Lacroix hung up the phone and placed it back on his desk. He couldn't catch a break, as the door to his office opened, and Lillian Luthor walked in immediately as he placed the phone on his desk.

"I don't think you scheduled a meeting Ms Luthor," said Lacroix as she walked towards him.

"I didn't but in light of recent events, I thought I needed to pay you a visit. Your company was broken in to today and you seem to lack urgency," said Lillian.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"Well, it's justified. So far, you have not held up your end of the deal."

"My end of the deal? Whose weapons and money are you using to fight your war right now?"

"You promised us that Supergirl will be dead, and you let her get rescued."

"It was your Cadmus agents, your incompetent imbeciles, that couldn't stop a team of vigilantes from getting to her. I needed Supergirl alive."

"Ah, yes, to torture her to discover the Green Arrow's identity…"

"That's not the only reason I needed her…"

"Another reason which you won't tell me…" Lillian's words were cut short by Lacroix slamming his hands into his office table, the thud echoing in his office.

"You promised me that you would help find the totem. You haven't!" growled Lacroix, his face twitching visibly from his anger, "Now you remember what state you were in when I found you, Ms Luthor. In case I haven't made myself clear yet, remember that it's you who needs me… not the other way around. We're done here."

* * *

**_(The DEO – 22:07)_ **

"Lacroix said that he will make this stop if we get the totem for him," explained Oliver, as he stood in the control hub of the DEO with J'onn, Alex and Winn.

"You really believe that?" asked Alex.

"No, but it's worth a shot," replied Oliver.

"Look, this is an unreasonable as it gets. He's searched for this thing for years with little success, how does he expect us to find it?" said Winn.

"I don't know Winn, but we have to try," replied Alex.

"He called it the Arrow Totem," continued Oliver, "Bottom line is that if a man like him wants it, there's an ulterior motive. We can't let it fall into his hands without us knowing why he wants it so bad."

"Winn, I need you to find out everything you can about it," said J'onn, "Oliver, is there anything else Lacroix told you that can point us in the right direction to look?"

"Not Lacroix, but I asked Kara. She said he spoke of 'enlightenment'. Maybe it has something to do with the totem."

"Cross referencing 'enlightenment' with 'totem' across our database now," said Winn, as he furiously typed instructions to his computer. It took only a few seconds for findings to show up. There were only two prompts that popped up on Winn's screen, one of them being a blurry picture of the totem, "Wow, we really don't have much on this."

Despite the low-quality, its features could be made out. It was practically a medium-sized arrow, a silver artifact. The pendant head of the totem possessed a hollow center, with the outer ring merely taking the form of an arrowhead.

"What does it say?" asked Alex, as Winn read over the small description text.

"The Arrow Totem, an ancient artifact that when wielded grants its user enlightenment, immortality and superhuman abilities. Throughout history, the leader of The Outsiders was the one who wielded it," read Winn.

"The Outsiders?" asked J'onn.

"Who are they?" asked Oliver.

"They were an international terrorist organisation. Responsible for many genocides over the years," explained J'onn.

"That's why Lacroix wants the totem. He wants to lead The Outsiders," replied Oliver.

"I don't think so. The Outsiders haven't been active in close to a decade, and even before that their activity was tapering off," replied Winn.

"Kara said he spoke of wanting enlightenment. Maybe that's all he wants the totem for. Nonetheless, we have to be sure. Anything about a location, Winn?" asked J'onn.

"Negative, this is all we got. Now you know why it's taken Lacroix years to find it," replied Winn, "I don't know where to start searching."

"Start with The Outsiders. Everything you can find out on them, maybe it will give us a clue," ordered J'onn.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

**_(Kara's Apartment – 22:28)_ **

Oliver walked in to the apartment to find Kara Danvers sitting on her couch, clearly languishing in her thoughts with a few used tissues scattered on the coffee table in front of her. Even from a distance, Oliver could see the slight puffiness of her face, with the red cheeks confirming to him that she had been crying.

"Hey… what's going on?" he asked concernedly as he hastily walked over to her and sat next to her on the couch.

"Nothing, it's just…" she took a deep breath before continuing to speak, "One of the things that I loved most about Mon-El was his laugh… it was just so dorky, and wholesome, I loved it… Ever since I've been back, I just… I can't remember it. I don't know why."

Luckily for her, Oliver knew exactly how to help her. He stood up and walked over to one of his duffel bags, searching for the one item which he thought might come in handy. Right now, he knew exactly how to use it.

"What are you doing?" asked Kara, clearly confused as to why Oliver pulled out the large red candle from his bag.

"The five years that I was gone, I learnt a lot of things. Meditation was one of them. It can clear your thoughts, find hidden truths… and help you remember. Do you trust me?"

"Always."

"Come," said Oliver, as he invited her to sit down on the floor with him. She moved off the couch and sat cross-legged in front of him, watching as he lit the candle with his zippo lighter. Just a couple of seconds after it lit, the rose-scented fragrance began to waft through Kara's nostrils. It immediately relaxed her, as did Oliver's soothing voice as he began to speak.

"Close your eyes." Kara obliged as he continued to speak, "Now focus on your breathing. In through your nose, out through your mouth. In... Out… Floating along, weightless…" As Oliver continued to speak, the image of Mon-El began to materialise in her mind… His blue eyes, his smile... And the sounds of his laughter began to gradually increase in her imagination... "The only thing that exists is your breath. Now your thoughts are like clouds. They just drift away."

Kara's eyes immediately opened, allowing the tears to roll down her cheeks. She couldn't contain her emotions as she placed a hand to her open mouth.

"I remembered," she said buoyantly. She quickly blew out the candle and moved it out of the way before she sprung onto Oliver, hugging him tightly as she allowed more tears to flow, "Thank you."


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Alex decide to organise a little something for Kara.

**_(The DEO – 12:32)_ **

Oliver hastily walked through the DEO, looking for Alex. The meditation with Kara last night reminded Oliver that Kara mentally was still struggling with everything that she had been through this year. She hadn't recovered fully yet, and Oliver knew that she probably wouldn't until her powers returned. Winn was still reading through what they knew about The Outsiders, and nothing had come up yet that gave them hints about the whereabouts of the totem. He spotted Alex coming down from the conference room, and walked over to her as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey, Alex," he said, as he came up next to her.

"Oliver. What's up?" she asked.

"I wanted to talk to you about Kara," started Oliver, "Look, she's been recovering, but she's still not in a good space. I was thinking we could do something for her. Something to take her mind off things. How about a game night?"

"We haven't had a game night in months, Oliver," replied Alex, somberly.

"What? Why?"

"After what happened to Mon-El, she has… really been struggling. She stopped coming out, doing game nights… It's been a horrible few months for her."

"All the more reason for us to do it. She needs it, Alex."

"You're right. I'll invite everybody and organise everything. Let's keep it a surprise, shall we?"

"Sure."

* * *

**_(Kara's Apartment – 12:32)_ **

Kara opened the door to her apartment with a friendly smile, gazing thankfully at Roy who was holding two pizza boxes in his hand.

"Lunch delivery," said Roy, light-heartedly.

"Thanks Roy," replied Kara, as she took the two boxes from him.

"Can I just quickly grab a glass of water? It's a bit hot out there today," asked Roy politely.

"Yeah, sure. Come in," replied Kara, as Roy followed behind her to the kitchen, "So, how are you finding Earth-38?" asked Kara.

"Oh, it's great, I like it. It's just nice to be able to walk the streets without having to look over my shoulder," replied Roy, thanking Kara as she handed him the glass of water.

"What do you mean?" asked Kara. Roy realised that she wasn't aware of his situation on Earth-1, and started to explain.

"Oliver wasn't always the Green Arrow. At first, he was called The Hood, and then The Arrow. The Arrow was framed for murder, and Oliver was arrested, but I took the fall to prevent him from going to jail. I faked my death and started a new life, but there's still always the possibility of someone finding out about me."

"You did that for Oliver?" asked Kara out of surprise.

"Yeah. If it wasn't for Oliver, I'd probably be dead right now," replied Roy.

"I have to know, how did Oliver react when he found out you were dating Thea?" asked Kara.

"I'm pretty sure he wanted to put an arrow in me," replied Roy jokingly.

"I can imagine."

"He actually did, a few months later. For a different reason, though."

"First you, then Barry. Does Oliver put arrows in all of his friends?" asked Kara.

"Has he shot you with one?" asked Roy in return.

"Not yet."

"Yet, being the keyword" said Roy humorously, "Anyways, I'll see you around."

"Thanks for the pizza" said Kara appreciatively, as Roy exited her apartment.

* * *

When Alex said she would invite everybody, she really meant everybody. James, J'onn, Winn, Clark, Maggie, Roy and Nyssa had all agreed to come. With that many of them, it was more like a small party rather than a game night. They were all going to arrive at Kara's apartment at 19:30. However, Alex told Oliver that Slade had declined the offer. He dialed the number to Slade's Earth-38 phone as he walked back to Kara's apartment, waiting for only a couple of rings before Slade answered.

_"What's happening, kid?"_

"You're not coming to game night?" asked Oliver.

_"I'm not really the type of person to do such, kid. Not anymore, at least."_

"Come on Slade, you haven't loosened up in years."

_"My point, exactly. Besides, if you're all in there, someone is going to have to be out here to keep watch."_

"Slade… I know what you're afraid of. Everything that's happened over the past few years, it's made you feel like you're not human anymore. Take it from me, an evening as simple as a game night is the best way for you to feel human again."

_"I'll think about it."_

* * *

**_(Kara Danvers' Apartment – 19:28)_ **

Kara suspiciously eyed Oliver down as he stirred the large pot of chilli on the stove. The spicy aroma of the brew had been floating in the air for the past few hours, and Kara still couldn't understand why Oliver was making such a large pot. He glanced at her every few seconds with a sly smile.

"I still don't understand why you're making so much," said Kara.

"You eat a lot," replied Oliver.

"Yeah, I know, but not that much."

"Kara, trust me when I tell you that you're going to be happy that I made extra once you have your first bite."

He had decided to make what Thea had dubbed, "Ollie's Stupendous Chilli Recipe", for the game night. He usually only made it for special occasions, and tonight was definitely going to be special. With 10 of them going to be playing tonight, he had to make enough for all of them, and even though he was trying his best to keep their arrival secret, Kara was getting suspicious. He didn't have to wait much longer, as it was nearly 19:30. Right on cue, the doorbell rang.

"It must be Alex. She said she's going to come over," said Oliver to Kara. Oliver watched intently as Kara walked over to the door, unable to contain his smile upon seeing her reaction of pleasant surprise to the group of 8 standing outside her apartment. Alex, Maggie, J'onn, Winn, James, Clark, Roy and Nyssa. No sign of Slade.

"Woah, uhh… What's going on?" asked Kara out of confusion.

"We all know this has been an extremely tough time for you, so we've all decided to surprise you and organise something to make you feel better," explained Alex.

"And what better way to do that than with a massive game night?" continued Winn.

"Oh, guys. You really didn't have to do this," said Kara shyly.

"No, no, we did. With everything that's going on, it'll be good for all of us to have a little bit of mindless fun," said J'onn.

"Alright. Well then come on in," said Kara enthusiastically, as she stepped aside for all of them to enter. They had all brought with them snacks and drinks for the evening ahead, which they placed on the dining table. Oliver couldn't help but feel disappointed that Slade hadn't come. Slade had always been an intense, focused man, but Oliver often remembered the lighter moments he shared with him on the island, back when he wasn't burdened with the guilt of his Mirakuru rage.

"Wow, what is that delicious smell?" said Winn, as he immediately caught a whiff of Oliver's chilli.

"Delicious? More like fervid," added J'onn.

"I am going to take that as a compliment," replied Oliver.

"Is that your Stupendous Chilli Recipe?" asked Roy, excitedly.

"Yes, how did you know?" asked Oliver.

"Thea has been raving about it ever since I met her. I've always wanted to try it," replied Roy.

"It's not ready yet, but let's crack open a few drinks and set up the games so long," said Oliver enthusiastically.

With those words from Oliver, the sounds of several beer bottles being cracked open rang out in the room, while they all moved to the couches. The apartment was big enough to accommodate for all of them, but the seating arrangements of the couches just had to be slightly adjusted to make space for all of them. Oliver readied himself to return to the pot of chilli, but another knock on the door caused him to head towards it. He opened the door with a smile, happy to see Slade standing there, albeit hesitantly.

"Slade. Glad you could make it," said Oliver, as he stepped aside for him to enter, "What made you change your mind?"

"You did, kid," said Slade, as he entered the loft.

"Hey. I know this might be difficult for you, so I got something that might help you loosen up," said Oliver, as he picked up the bottle of Reuther Rum and handed it to Slade.

"Authentic Australian Rum. Thanks, kid."

"Join them. I need to head back to the kitchen."

"Are you finally making that chilli you always used to brag about on the island?" asked Slade.

"Of course. After 10 years, you'll finally be getting a taste of it," replied Oliver.

"It better be as good as you said it was."

"Trust me, it will be."

* * *

"Fire! It tastes like fire! Moons of Mars!"

J'onn's screams echoed in Kara's loft, drowning out everyone else's murmurs and coughs before he hastily grabbed a glass of water and gulped it down, trying his best to cool his taste buds. J'onn wasn't the only one in agony from Oliver's chilli, as James and Winn both sat next to each other, coughing vehemently.

"Water… Give me water," requested Winn in between coughs.

"Actually, milk will cool your taste buds better," said Maggie, as she handed Winn a glass of milk.

"Is it too late to take back what I said about wanting to try this?" asked Roy, as he eyed down the spoon of chilli hovering in front of his face. After playing games for about an hour, they had decided to take a break and have the chilli for supper. Oliver couldn't contain his amusement at them being unable to take the heat, chuckling as he watched Clark use his ice breath to cool the spoon of chilli before placing it in his mouth. Oliver watched eagerly as Alex and Kara simultaneously placed spoonfuls in their mouths, anticipating their reactions.

"Hmmm… it could use more crackers," said Alex, approvingly, unfazed by the spiciness.

"Agreed," said Slade, from the other end of the dining table. Kara coughed only slightly from the chilli, with Nyssa, Alex and Slade seeming to be the only ones unfazed by it.

"This dish is closer to a bio-weapon than an edible substance," said J'onn, as he wiped away the sweat forming on his forehead.

"Look on the bright side J'onn. If Mr Freeze ever comes back to National City, you can use this recipe as a weapon against him," said Clark.

"Anyone want seconds?" asked Oliver politely, only to be shouted at with a resounding no from almost everyone on the table.

"I'd like some more," said Alex, as she handed her bowl to Oliver, who gladly dished out more for her.

* * *

"And… boom! Another win for Slade and Clark," said Clark jovially as he high-fived Slade. With there being 11 of them, they had decided to split themselves up into two-people teams for the games: Alex and Maggie, Winn and James, Kara and J'onn, Oliver and Roy, and Clark and Slade, while Nyssa decided to be the card dealer.

"Uh uh, no. This is wrong, guys," said Alex in protest, "You two are clearly cheating! You're looking at our cards!"

"How? I only have one eye," replied Slade playfully.

"Your partner over there has x-ray vision!" replied Alex angrily.

"Point taken," replied Slade, "Although, our success is merely due to our ability to play this game. Ask Oliver, I was excellent at Blackjack back in the day."

"That is true," replied Oliver.

"Hey, when we were playing Poker, Kara and J'onn were winning most of the time. Why didn't you say anything about J'onn's clear use of his psychic abilities?" said Clark.

"I wasn't reading anyone's minds, you guys just weren't good enough," denied J'onn.

"Actually, we weren't getting dealt good cards," said Winn, as he looked at Nyssa suspiciously.

"Oh no, you don't get to turn this on me, Winn. I am an excellent dealer and you and James' inability to "know when to fold 'em" is only preceded by your inability to handle a little bit of chilli," quipped back Nyssa.

"The Martian Manhunter couldn't take the heat, what do you expect me and Winn to do?!" replied James defensively.

"Ok guys, we're going off-topic," replied Kara, giggling in amusement at them, "How about we just move on to Monopoly?"

"Yes, please!" said Roy.

"Alright, but I don't trust Nyssa as the bank," said Winn, as he set up the Monopoly board.

"I'll be the bank. Nyssa can swap in and play," said J'onn. Oliver gestured to Nyssa to pair up with Roy, while he joined Kara's team. If they were playing Monopoly, he definitely had to be on Kara's side, smiling as he moved up to sit next to her.

"Hey, we're doing the rule that if you land on a property, you have to buy it or it gets auctioned off," said Maggie.

"Trying to make things interesting I see," replied Kara.

"May the best team win," said Oliver, as he rolled the dice to begin the game.

* * *

With the end of that game of Monopoly, the evening came to an end as well, and they were all preparing to leave. The humorous exchanges combined with their competitive edges had made the evening one of extraordinary fun for all of them, and it was particularly great to see Kara smiling and laughing once again. Oliver and Kara ended up winning the game of Monopoly to the chagrin of Alex and Maggie in second place. With all of them leaving besides Alex, Oliver took time to greet them all, particularly Slade, who had shown a side of himself Oliver had never quite seen before.

"So, did you enjoy yourself?" asked Oliver to Slade.

"Yes, I did," replied Slade, "You were right, kid. This place, these people, it has a way of bringing out the best in you."

"Yeah, it does. Alright, see you at the DEO tomorrow," said Oliver, as he shook hands with Slade before he exited the apartment. He walked back next to Alex, both of them being confronted by Kara with a wide smile on her face.

"So, whose idea was it?" asked Kara.

"It was mine, but I shouldn't take all the credit. Alex organised most of it," replied Oliver.

"Well, thank you both for doing this. It was great," said Kara appreciatively, "The best part of the evening was watching everyone eat your chilli," she said to Oliver.

"Please tell me there's left overs," said Alex.

"Of course there's left overs. You're the only one who had seconds," replied Oliver, as he laughed with the two of them.

"Alright, I'm going to sleep. Goodnight," said Kara.

"Goodnight," replied Alex and Oliver in unison as Kara headed back to her bedroom.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The DEO discover the location of the totem.

_**(The DEO – 08:37)** _

35 hours since they had begun the search for the totem, and still very little progress. With so little information on the Arrow Totem, browsing through their records of what was known about The Outsiders was proving to be fruitless, as nothing pointed them in the direction they were hoping. The only things they were discovering were the activities which The Outsiders engaged in. Involved in multiple political uprisings, revolutions, and assassinations, all for their own gain. Their status in the underworld reminded Oliver of the League. He stood with Slade in the DEO, anxiously awaiting anything that would be of use to them.

"Any luck?" asked Clark, as he walked up next to Oliver and Slade.

"Clark, if I find something, I will probably pump my fist in the air and let you know," replied Winn, slightly annoyed.

"Come on, there has to be something on it," said Oliver, as his frustration began to boil over too.

"Oliver, I've been looking. We've all been looking. The Outsiders were always very coy about the whereabouts of the totem, they rarely even speak of it," replied Winn.

"Well, if the leader of The Outsiders carries the totem, then who was their last leader?" asked Slade.

"A man named Henri Ducard. Seven years ago, his body was found in Latvia, no sign of the totem," replied Winn.

"Wait, wait. Latvia?" asked Oliver.

"Yeah, why?" asked Winn.

"Seven years ago, Lacroix was in Latvia," said Oliver, as he remembered reading about Komodo being spotted there in a case file, "What was Ducard's cause of death?" Winn quickly typed into his computer, bringing the report up.

"A black arrow through the heart," said Winn, "If Lacroix got to him, why doesn't he have the totem?"

"Either Lacroix got it but lost it at another point after, or Ducard knew Lacroix was coming and hid it from him," said Slade.

"Well, he hid it well if it's this hard to track down," replied Winn. Oliver reflexively clasped his left hand, as he did whenever he was agitated. This time however, he recognised his action, and with it accompanied a moment of realisation.

"What if we've been looking at this the wrong way?" asked Oliver, drawing the full attention of Slade, Clark and Winn, "This whole time we've just accepted what the totem is, we haven't looked at why the totem is what it is."

"Are you implying the totem could be of alien origin?" asked Clark.

"Yes. Think about it. It's an artifact. It's been forged."

"Well, what materials could it possibly be made of?" asked Slade.

"Anything alien," replied Clark, "I mean Promethium, Dionesium, Nth met… Nth Metal. It could be made of Nth Metal. The planet that Nth Metal is from, Thanagar, was known to craft weapons and items with it."

"Yeah, the Arrow Totem could be a Thanagarian artifact," said Winn.

"Wait, I thought Nth Metal was just extremely strong. It's used in my bow," said Oliver.

"Nth Metal is extremely versatile. The Thanagarians even used to use it to defy gravity," explained Clark.

"Winn, cross-reference the description of the Arrow Totem with Thanagarian artifacts," requested Oliver. Winn did so, but the search quickly came up negative on the DEO database.

"The Fortress of Solitude database might have something," said Clark just before he burst off into flight, out of the DEO. They waited no more than a couple of minutes before the DEO received an incoming communication from the Fortress, which Winn speedily answered.

_"Got it."_

"That quickly?" asked Winn.

_"I can speed-read. It was called the Aegis by the Thanagarians. The description here matches exactly with what we know of the Arrow Totem. Winn, use the Radiatron to try find it."_

"Radiatron?" asked Oliver.

"It's a Thanagarian invention that detects radiation," explained Winn, as he typed furiously into his computer, "However, it can be also be used to scan for other Thanagarian inventions. The DEO has one attached to a satellite in orbit, and if you just give me one moment to reprogram it, it'll start scanning the planet right… now!" exclaimed Winn, as he pressed the enter key on his keyboard, causing the digital image of the globe to appear on the main screens of the DEO.

They all watched the sweeping of the global model anxiously for several seconds, waiting for the results to show. One sweep… Two sweeps… Three sweeps… The thought that they may possibly have been wrong flirted with their minds as nothing came up. Suddenly, a binging sound rang from Winn's computer, as the globe zoomed in to the location of the totem.

"It's on an island?" said Winn in slight surprise.

Oliver instinctively studied the area of the map surrounding the red flickering dot of its location. The contours, the placements of lakes, the meanders of streams, the shape of the island…

"You've got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Slade, as he and Oliver both came to a realisation of where the totem was situated…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder which island it could be...


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara talks to Alex about Oliver, while Team Arrow go to retrieve the totem.

**_(Kara's Apartment – 09:16)_ **

"Good morning!" exclaimed Alex from the kitchen island, as Kara walked towards her.

"Morning," replied Kara with a smile, as she sat opposite Alex.

"I heard you get up, so I poured you coffee," said Alex, as she handed a cup to Kara.

"Thanks," replied Kara, gratefully taking the cup and sipping on the warm brew.

"How are you feeling?" asked Alex concernedly.

"Uhh, great. Wonderful," replied Kara, with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"That only sounds half-true," replied Alex, picking up on Kara's uncertainty.

"Hey, my body feels great. My powers aren't back yet, but I feel good," replied Kara, "There's just a lot of other things on my mind."

"Hey…" said Alex concernedly, as she placed her hand on one of Kara's, "If you want to talk about it, I'm here." Kara took another sip of her coffee, savouring frothy, milky texture while she pondered whether or not to speak to Alex about it. She was her sister, and Kara knew she could speak to her about anything, but she still wasn't sure if she should. Eventually, she decided. It was something that had been working on her mind for a few days now, and she felt like she needed to get it off her chest.

"It's about Oliver…" started Kara, "I don't know, it's just…" Kara paused, unable to finish her words.

"You have feelings for him," said Alex, finishing Kara's words. She sighed before nodding, and replying.

"There've been moments over the past two weeks… Moments where we've looked into each other's eyes and just… lost ourselves there. But we both know it can't happen. Alex, I can't open my heart up again. I can't be hurt again."

"Oliver would never hurt you."

"It's not about Oliver, Alex. I've been told, time and time again, that I can't be Supergirl and Kara Danvers. And it's the same with him. He's told me that he constantly has to choose between being Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow. And Mon-El, I… I'm not over him. I can't be with Oliver, because I can't love again. Not yet."

"Kara… I understand about Mon-El. I really do… but sometimes, a wound can only heal if you allow it to. The only way you're going to be able to love again is by trying to, and in my eyes, the first step to doing that is allowing Oliver into your life."

"There's still so much between us, Alex. He's human, and I'm Kryptonian, and he lives in a different universe."

"Yes, but you'll find a way to make it work. We always do, for the people we love."

As Alex finished her words, the door to the apartment opened, and in stepped the focus of the conversation himself. They immediately noticed his determined demeanour, as he hastily walked over to them.

"What's going on?" asked Alex.

"Good news. We found the totem," replied Oliver.

"Lacroix has been searching for it for years, and you found it in three days?" asked Kara, surprised.

"It was more Winn and Clark, but yes. We know where it is."

"Where?" asked Alex. Oliver sighed deeply before answering her.

"Lian Yu."

"What? There's a Lian Yu on this Earth?" asked Kara, out of surprise once again.

"Yeah."

"What's the plan?" asked Alex.

"Nobody knows the island better than Slade and I, so we're going to go with Nyssa and Roy to get the totem."

"When do you leave?" asked Kara.

"Half an hour. It's a six hour flight in a DEO jet, we'll be back before the end of tonight." Oliver scanned Kara and Alex's faces, noticing that there was perhaps a hint of worry present there, "Don't worry. We'll be fine," said Oliver reassuringly, before smiling warmly at the two sisters before exiting the apartment.

* * *

**_(Lian Yu – 07:02)_ **

"Home sweet home!" exclaimed Slade, as he stepped on to the beach of Earth-38 Lian Yu with Oliver, Nyssa and Roy.

"Wow, the last time I saw this place, it was blown to hell," said Roy, "Aren't you guys finding this weird?"

"It is strange, yes," replied Nyssa. Oliver ignored their words, as he stepped forward and explained the plan again.

"The island is big, but we know where the totem is. Thermal scans show nobody on the island but we can't be sure. We stick together and watch each other's backs. Let's go."

They began the trek through the forests of Lian Yu, minding each step for the threats of booby traps and mines loomed large. Oliver and Slade had to admit that the fact that Lian Yu on this Earth was identical to the one on Earth-1 was a bit eerie, to say the least. Slade chalked it down to simply chance, a coincidence, one unlikely yet possible due to the infinite prospects of the multiverse.

Judging from its location, the totem was probably located inside the cave where the bodies of the Japanese soldiers were back on Earth-1. As far as they knew, the Mirakuru didn't exist on Earth-38. However, the mere fact that the totem was being kept here reinforced the fact in their heads that Lian Yu, no matter which Earth it was on, was always going to be Purgatory, if not Hell. For that reason, they carried their weapons despite wearing ordinary civilian clothes. Oliver, Roy and Nyssa with their bows, and Slade with his duel pistols and duel swords. Walking hastily, the trek towards the cave was moving along rather quickly, with them closing in on the location in just over 20 minutes. Intel that showed them that they were the only people on the island, but they weren't so convinced. Each step they took was light, aiming to make as little noise as possible to hear movements of anything else in the surrounding area.

"Stop!" shouted Slade, causing them all to freeze in their footsteps. He held up a fist while his face wore an intense look of focus.

"What's wrong?" asked Roy. Slade waited several more seconds before answering.

"I thought I heard something," he replied, before allowing them to continue to move towards the cave.

Suddenly, a snapping sound echoed in the forest, accompanying Roy's scream as he was pulled up into the air by a snare net trap. Immediately realising that Roy was about to be shot, Oliver quickly nocked an arrow and took aim at the rope suspending the net in the air. As the net dropped to the floor along with Roy, two arrows zipped past where Roy's body would have been, embedding themselves in the trees behind Slade.

"Shit!" exclaimed Slade, as he dragged the net with Roy back with him to behind the trees for cover. Oliver and Nyssa provided covering fire at the area where the arrows came from, before they too moved back to behind the trees.

"Looks like we're not alone after all," said Nyssa, as Slade drew his sword and started cutting Roy out of the net.

_"Who are you?!"_

The feminine voice screamed out from the trees where the arrows were shot from.

"We're friends of Supergirl! From National City!" replied Oliver, deciding that honesty was the best policy in this scenario. Her voice sounded familiar. Very familiar, but with it being distorted by the echoes, Oliver was struggling to tell who it was.

_"Right, like you expect me to believe that?! I'm surprised Lacroix sent you to get the totem for him. Where is he?"_

"We're not working with Lacroix!" screamed back Oliver. Whoever she was, she knew about Lacroix and she wasn't on his side either. That gave them common ground, "We're here to get the totem before he does! We're on the same side!"

_"I'm going to need something a lot more convincing than your word to believe you!"_

With those last words from her, Oliver and Slade both shot each other looks of recognition. The tone, delivery and softness of the voice finally clicked into perspective for them, as they realised who they were dealing with.

"Does she sound familiar to you, kid?" said Slade.

"Shado?" said Oliver, with the realisation sinking in for the first time, "Shado!" he called out.

_"What?!"_

"Your name is Shado! Shado Gulong!"

_"How do you know that?"_

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me!" replied Oliver. He contemplated telling her he knew her father, Yao Fei, but it would be better if he told her the truth. Despite sounding way crazier, it was probably much more likely to convince her that they were on the same side, "We're heroes from a parallel universe!"

Even the birds of the forest seemed to go quiet, as the silence pestered for several seconds as they awaited for her response.

_"Coming out!"_

Oliver and his team peeked their heads out from behind the trees, relaxing upon seeing the Shado of Earth-38 walking towards them with her bow at her side, unalarmed. They reciprocated her action, themselves too coming out of their cover and placing their weapons at their sides in an unthreatening manner. For the first time, they got a clear look at her. Her hair was let loose, and she was wearing a long black leather coat, with black leather pants and a red shirt. Her only noticeable difference from the Shado of Earth-1 was the long scar running down the right side of her face, one that was caused by a blade. For Oliver, coming across a doppelganger of someone he loved was normal for him now, but he kept an eye on Slade, who stared in disbelief at her.

"Shado," said Oliver, as they approached each other.

"Shado is the name I used in my past life. I don't use it anymore," she replied.

"So what do we call you?" asked Nyssa.

"Shiva."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... Earth-38 Shado is Lady Shiva.
> 
> Next chapter, we learn of her past and her connection to Lacroix.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Arrow, with the help of Lady Shiva, retrieve the totem, but not without some trouble.

"Now, who are you?" asked Lady Shiva, as she faced the four 'vigilantes' in front of her.

"Like I said, we're friends of Supergirl," replied Oliver.

"You're here for the totem. Why?" she asked.

"We're here to get the totem before Simon Lacroix does," replied Oliver.

"You've already told me that. You haven't told me why you want it."

"Two weeks ago, Lacroix kidnapped Supergirl and tortured her because he lost the map to the totem," explained Oliver, "We've since rescued her, but Lacroix is working with Cadmus to fuel anti-alien attacks across the world. He says he'll stop the attacks if we get the totem for him, but we don't plan on giving it to him. We're here to make sure the totem is in safe hands, away from him."

"I can assure you that I am more than capable of keeping this totem safe," she replied.

"I'm sure you can, but we're not leaving this island without that totem," replied Oliver.

"The totem has been on this island for years and he still doesn't know it's here. It's safe."

"The situation has changed. It's only a matter of time before Lacroix finds it, and when he does, he's going to bring an army to get it. An army which you won't be able to stop. We'll be able to keep it safe."

"Where could you possibly take it that it'll be safer than here?"

"The Fortress of Solitude." The mention of the fortress seemed to spark something in her mind, changing her full demeanour as she looked at Oliver with near disbelief, "I told you we were friends with Supergirl. We know Superman too. He can keep it safe." They could see her run a calculated thought process in her mind, pondering whether or not she should accept their help and trust them.

"Follow me," she eventually said, as she began walking in the direction of the cave.

* * *

"So, you're that Green Arrow that's been helping Supergirl?" asked Lady Shiva, as she walked with Oliver and his team towards the location of the totem.

"Yeah," replied Oliver.

"Is she your girlfriend?" asked Lady Shiva, curiously.

"No, no. She's just a…"

"Super-friend?" she said, finishing his words for him.

"Yeah, you could say that," replied Oliver, smiling a bit at the term.

"I suppose you being from an alternate reality explains how you know my real name?"

"There was a Shado on my Earth. A doppelganger. Slade and I knew her."

"He must have loved her."

"How can you tell?"

"The way he's been looking at me. I can tell the story of guilt and love just from his face. I've seen it on many men's faces before. I can see it on yours too, although it is for someone else."

"Hey, you never told us how you knew Lacroix!" shouted Roy from behind them.

"Many years ago, a young Simon Lacroix came to me," explained Lady Shiva, "He was still a nobody, a far cry from the suave businessman and cold-blooded murderer that you see today. He was filled with anger and rage, looking for a purpose in the world. So I gave him one. I trained him, and allowed him to join my crusade to take down The Outsiders."

"Why would you embark on such a crusade?" asked Nyssa.

"My father, Yao Fei, and my sister, Mei, were both murdered by The Outsiders. I made it my duty in life to take down The Outsiders, to avenge my family and make sure that no more innocent lives would perish by their hands. I thought that by helping Lacroix channel his rage and darkness into taking down The Outsiders, I could stop him from becoming something worse. I was wrong. We succeeded in bringing down The Outsiders, and I warned him about the totem, but he could not resist it. He became intoxicated with the prospect of wielding it, and one day, he betrayed me. He gave me this," she said, pointing to the long scar running down the side of her face, "He wielded the totem once, and once he had a taste of its power, he decided that he couldn't live without it. I managed to retrieve the totem from him and I've hid it here ever since."

"Wait, if you're hiding it here, then how was there a map leading to its location?" asked Roy.

"That 'map', was a decoy sent out by me, meant to lead him astray. We're here," she said, as they came across the entrance to the cave, covered by a series of vines and roots.

Entering into the cave, Oliver noted the relative emptiness of it. No weapons, no bodies of dead Japanese soldiers, only a single, small box, placed against the wall in the center of the cave.

"This is it," said Lady Shiva, as she picked up the box and handed it to Oliver. He carefully took it, slowly opening the lid to reveal the silver arrow artifact.

"If you're taking it, I must warn you about it," continued Shiva, "This totem… it doesn't just provide enlightenment and powers. It amplifies everything within a person. If you are a paragon of light, you will become even more so, but if you are filled with darkness… it will corrupt you even more. Drive you to madness. That is what it did to Lacroix."

"Don't worry, it's safe in our hands," replied Oliver, but his words seemed to fly over her head, as she stared blankly at the entrance of the cave. She pulled out a small device which started furiously beeping. A proximity detector…

"We're not alone," she said, before quickly pulling out a detonator and pressing the button. Immediately, explosions rang out around the cave, "Go, we need to move!" she screamed. They all ran for the exit, with their adrenaline pumping and their minds kicking into fight-mode. Immediately as they exited, they noticed several bodies scattered around the area in front of them. They immediately started firing arrows at the platoons of men on their right, with Slade drawing his pistols and firing bullets too while they took cover behind trees around them as the men started firing their weapons on them too.

"These are Lacroix's men! Mercenaries!" screamed Lady Shiva over the chaos, "You guys need to go! Take the totem!"

"You can't take these guys by yourself!" screamed back Oliver.

"I'll be fine! Take the totem, it's more important!" Oliver groaned, as he realised what had to be done. He quickly nocked two explosive arrows, firing them at Lacroix's men. As the arrows exploded, sending several of Lacroix's men into the air, he, Nyssa and Roy started to run back to the plane, but not Slade. Oliver noticed him stay put, rather continuing to fire upon the men attacking them.

"Slade! Slade!" screamed out Oliver.

"I'm not leaving her kid!" growled back Slade, "Not this time!"

With those words, Oliver realised that this was something Slade had to do, and regretfully continued the run back to the plane.

* * *

"I'm running out of bullets!" exclaimed Slade, as he continued to shoot at Lacroix's men. He watched from his peripheral vision, as Lady Shiva turned to a bush next to them, lifting it up and pulling out an LSW light machine gun. She tossed it to him before returning to her cover behind the tree.

"Now we're talking," said Slade jovially, as he dropped his pistols, and began firing mercilessly upon the mercenaries. He couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he watched the bodies drop while the magazine emptied, as he felt like The Terminator once more. It took no more than a few seconds before the men there were eradicated, but it took the proximity detector even less time to start beeping once again.

"There's more men. They're heading for the totem," said Lady Shiva, before she quickly returned to the bush where the gun was being kept, and threw Slade another magazine, "Get to them before they get to Oliver and the others," she said, before she started heading straight towards where the men initially came from.

"Where are you going?" asked Slade, concernedly.

"Lacroix is here. I know it."

"Hey!" called out Slade, before she started running, "Be careful."

She acknowledged his request with a nod, before they both ran in their opposing directions.

* * *

Before Lady Shiva could even make it halfway across the clearing towards where she thought Lacroix was, he appeared on the trail, almost as if he rose from the bodies of the dead men around him. Lady Shiva turned around to see if Slade was still there, but he was gone. It wasn't a worry to her of course. In fact, she preferred if Lacroix died by her blade, rather than a bullet from a gun. He was clad in his full Komodo uniform, with the mask, black hood and black sleeveless top all making him stick out amongst the brown forests of Lian Yu. As he walked hastily towards her, she dropped her bow and opted to draw her sword instead.

"I bested you the last time we fought," said Lady Shiva, "This time won't be any different… Komodo."

"我们拭目以向，森西" – _We'll see about that, Sensei._

With those words, they began the fight. Lady Shiva swung her blade first, a strike blocked by Komodo's bow. The fight continued, with the synergy between student and master being on full display as they traded blows in the forest. Years of training together allowed them to see the fight through two sets of eyes. Their own, and then their opponents. They knew each and every move they'd try to make on one another, blocking many of their opponent's strikes.

However, the ferocity of Komodo's strikes were something that was throwing Lady Shiva off. Many had told her she was possibly the greatest martial artist in the world, but she was slowly starting to find herself on the losing side of this battle with Lacroix. Her strikes were starting to oscillate through the air while his started to make contact with her body. An evenly contested fight like this meant mistakes were simply not an option. Two skilled assailants like this would capitalise on a single mistake of each other's, with the consequences being the end of the fight.

They each hurt each other in the duel, with Shiva managing to lacerate Komodo's skin a couple of times, while the strikes of his bow were bruising her body beyond belief. He whacked her across the face with his bow, causing her to stumble back, momentarily dazed. He threw another strike into her abdomen, causing her to kneel over in pain. Shiva could barely register what was happening around her. The whole fight seemed even until Lacroix wanted it to be. He had been toying with her from the beginning. She swung her blade at his head but once again, the blade sliced nothing but the air, as he ducked underneath it and knocked her to the ground with a savage punch to the head. Hurt and defeated, Shiva could only look up at Lacroix, who stood over her and ripped her sword from her hands.

"What can I say? The student has surpassed the master," he said mockingly, "Rest well, Sensei," he said, before he lifted the sword up, preparing to drive it into her chest.

* * *

Slade sprinted through the forest of Lian Yu, back to Lady Shiva's location. He had shot down the men on Oliver's trail, and wanted to make sure she was alright. She was a different person, of course, but she wore Shado's face. To Slade, that meant they were almost the same. Seeing her made him understand what it must have felt like for Oliver when he first saw Earth-38 Kara, and why it was so important for Oliver to save her. 

He knew he was nearing when he began to hear the sound of metal banging against metal. He sprinted even harder, ignoring the aching of his legs. The banging got louder, and soon enough, he could see them dueling. Shiva was losing. He watched her get knocked to the ground, which only fuelled him to run even harder.

"LACROIX!"

Slade screamed out as Komodo lifted the blade, causing him to whip towards Slade. He spun the blade around back into his hand before kicking Shiva in the face, making sure she was out of the fight. He readied into battle stance as Slade drew a sword of his own, sprinting towards Lacroix intensely as they began a sword duel.

It had been a while since someone had bested Slade in a swordfight. He was always the slightly better swordsman than Billy, and few other ASIS agents could keep up with his swordsmanship. The clattering of their swords echoed through the forests. Slade wasn't surprised that Lacroix could compete with him, he was more surprised that Lacroix barely seemed tired despite having just had another fight. He continued to slash at Lacroix, managing to slice a gash on his arm. However, Lacroix retaliated by slashing at Slade's abdomen. Slade dropped to a knee as the blade lacerated his stomach. Had he not partially parried it, it would have cut much deeper, possibly causing his intestines to spill out on the floor in front of him.

Suddenly, just as Lacroix was about to decapitate Slade, a strong wind burst through the area, and Lacroix found the sword slicing nothing but the air as Slade and Lady Shiva's bodies disappeared in front of him.

* * *

Oliver sat anxiously in the pilot's seat on the DEO aircraft on the shores of Lian Yu, waiting for Slade to arrive at any second. The thought of leaving without Slade was unthinkable, of course, but he couldn't help but think that if Slade hadn't made it here by now, he's probably dead. He hadn't thought about it, but the probability of Lacroix being on the island was pretty high. He'd want to get the totem himself, rather than trust it with one of his henchmen. The more important thought that Oliver tried to dwell on, was how Lacroix knew they were on Lian Yu. Could he have found the location of the totem as well? Possibly, but it was too strange of a coincidence.

A couple of seconds later, a gust of wind blasted through the plane, as Oliver turned around to see Slade and Lady Shiva, both badly hurt, while Clark, who had flown them in, appeared weakened too as several of his veins glowed green.

"Go, go!" said Clark, as Oliver quickly pushed the handle down to full throttle, as the plane started to glide over the water, and eventually, up into the air.

* * *

Having now placed the plane into auto-pilot, Oliver got up from the pilot's chair and made his way to the passenger area. Slade sat on the side, staring at Lady Shiva who lay on the floor atop a sleeping bag, with a respirator over her face. She had taken a solid beating at the hands of Lacroix, and Slade was a bit worse for wear too. His left arm remained over his abdomen, which had been bandaged up and treated. Clark had heard the commotion, and flew in to save them. As he approached the island, he felt his strength sapping away from him, having later discovered that all of the mercenaries, including Lacroix, were wearing kryptonite bracelets. He could only make a limited flight on the island, so he chose to save Slade and Shiva instead of taking down Lacroix.

Oliver moved over to Slade, sitting down next to him, "You alright?" he asked.

"It's not every day that I get my arse handed to me," replied Slade, somewhat cheerfully.

"He is quite skilled."

"No, kid. It was… more than that. He was strong… It was like he was toying with me, like he knew what I was going to throw before I threw it," explained Slade. His words gave Oliver a lot to think about. Lacroix being enhanced would explain a lot about him. "I'm sorry kid. You know why I couldn't leave her behind," continued Slade, as he stared at Lady Shiva once more, "I told you Shado's death still haunted me. I was thinking that maybe if I could save her, I could redeem myself from that mistake."

"Have you?" asked Oliver.

A hearty smile appeared from Slade, one that Oliver hadn't seen since their first year on Lian Yu. Such a smile told Oliver all that he needed to know, as he patted Slade on the shoulder before standing up and heading back to the cockpit. He pulled out the satellite phone, calling J'onn.

_"Oliver. Do you have the totem?"_

"Yeah, we got it. We ran into some trouble though. Clark had to fly in and get us out of there," replied Oliver.

_"What happened?"_

"Lacroix showed up. Along with a few friends of his."

_"Lacroix? How did he know the totem was there?"_

"That's what I've been trying to figure out. J'onn, how many people knew of this operation?"

_"Quite a few, but only DEO agents. Why?"_

"There's only one way he could have known. There has to be a mole in the DEO."

_"That's a bold assumption, Oliver."_

"It has to be true. How else could he have known?"

_"You may be right. I'll scan the minds of every agent to try determine who it is. I'll keep the whereabouts of the totem as discreet as possible."_

"Good. We'll be back soon."


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Kara finally admit their feelings for one another.

**_(Kara Danvers' Apartment – 20:48)_ **

Kara Danvers sat on her couch, curled up in a blanket as she eagerly awaited the arrival of Oliver at any second. She had received the news from Alex about what had happened when they went to retrieve the totem, and it set something off in her thoughts. Up until this point, she had remained optimistic about her powers. They were going to come back sooner or later, right? When she heard how Clark had to save Slade, it made her truly realise for the first time how helpless she was without powers. National City depended on her. She couldn't leave it all in the hands of Clark, James and the DEO. Without her powers, she was missing a fundamental part of who she was as a person.

She had also spent the day reflecting on her feelings for Oliver. She could understand from their interactions that he had some form of feelings for her too, but he too was experiencing the same things as her. She could see that the scars on his heart from his failure to save his Kara were still as prominent as ever. She knew that he saw her as her own person now, no longer just the doppelganger of another woman. Still though, if he too recognised the things standing in between their love, including their hearts still belonging to another person in some way, then he'd recognise that they couldn't be together, even though it was something they both wanted.

The door opened, and in stepped Oliver, causing Kara to rise to her feet and hastily walk towards him.

"I heard what happened," she said, as she hugged him, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. The others got hurt a little, they're at the DEO for medical care," replied Oliver, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just been thinking a lot," she said, as they walked to the couch, sitting next to each other, "You seem tired."

"A little, but trust me, I've been through way worse," said Oliver, "I actually sleep well when I'm on Earth-38."

"Why do you not sleep well on Earth-1?" asked Kara, curiously, as she flickered through the channels of the TV.

"I always have a lot on my mind. Here, I guess I'm just at peace. Probably because I know I have Supergirl watching my back," replied Oliver cheerfully, smiling at Kara. He realised he may have made a mistake by referring to Kara as Supergirl when she looked at him with a hint of worry in her face, before she switched off the TV completely as she spoke up.

"Oliver…" she began, "Alex told me what happened. How Clark had to fly in. It got me thinking, that it should've been me out there."

"Kara, your powers are going to come back," replied Oliver, trying to be reassuring.

"Are they?" replied Kara abruptly, her voice full of doubt and angst, "Oliver, it's been nearly two weeks, and I still don't feel any different."

"Maybe you just need more time."

"You don't understand Oliver. I… My whole life, I have had this struggle between being Kara Danvers, and being Supergirl. Last year, I thought I couldn't have both… until I met Mon-El. Things were great… and then he was ripped away from me. Over the past few months, I've had to accept that I can't be Kara Danvers. I have had to accept that I can't be human. I can only be Supergirl, and if I'm without my powers now… then I'm nobody."

Oliver didn't know how to comfort her. There was nothing his mind could say that would help dull the type of pain she was feeling right now. He could only speak from his heart.

"Kara… your powers, they aren't what make you Supergirl. You're Supergirl because of your compassion, your determination, your ability to inspire hope in others. Your powers would mean nothing if you weren't the person you are. Kara Danvers is the best part of Supergirl."

"I can't save people's lives without my powers."

"You saved mine… Kara, before I met you… I was lost. I never told you, but Adrian Chase tortured me a few months ago. And he tried to make me think that I was this… murderer, without a heart. A murderer. I almost believed him. I would have… if it wasn't for you. You reminded me that there was more to me than my darkness… and you did that without your powers."

Kara knew the meaning behind Oliver's words, and the weight of them. She could tell he was afraid to tell her that he loved her, but his words left her no choice but to tell him that herself.

"Oliver… The past few months have been horrible for me. I've lost so much… when Mon-El left, it left a huge hole in my heart that I thought couldn't be filled. I never thought that I'd be able to love anyone else as deeply as I loved him… the past two weeks made me realise that I was wrong… whenever I was with you." Kara couldn't stop her eyes from watering in the moment, but it comforted her to see the same in his eyes, "I love you Oliver. I love you."

"I love you too."

Electricity, gravity, fate, chance, whatever you wanted to call it… it had led Oliver Queen and Kara Danvers to this moment here. Two deeply damaged souls who had endured so much for the sake of others, always trying to sacrifice their own well-being for the innocents. Both had failed in balancing their duel identities, and both had suffered tragedies of love which they didn't deserve to endure. Right now, all that mattered was that they were here, with each other, their bodies edging closer.

Gently, they allowed their lips to brush against each other's, as they finally accepted the feelings which they for one another. The tenderness of the kiss surprised them both, as they savoured the moments where their lips were together for several seconds. They eventually separated, catching their breaths and they placed their foreheads against one another. Instead of leaning in for another kiss on her lips, Oliver planted one on her forehead.

They didn't need to be any more intimate with each other, as she dropped her head to his chest while she wrapped her arms around his body. He pulled the blanket further over her as she fell asleep leaning on him. Oliver too leaned his head back and tried to fall asleep, while for the first time in a long time, a soothing happiness warmed his heart.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dire situation develops at the DEO, prompting Oliver to re-evaluate his relationship with Kara.

**_(Kara Danvers' Apartment – 01:47)_ **

Oliver Queen had managed to lay down once Kara had drifted off to sleep, her body still close to his. He had fallen asleep momentarily, but his protective instincts woke him up. The moonlight still glistened through the windows of her loft, with the sun only set to rise in a few more hours. Kara's tender body was pressed against his, as she slept with her head on his chest and her arm around his body while he simply stared at the ceiling, gently caressing her back with his left arm.

Unable to sleep, his mind languished deep in thoughts about what a life with Kara would entail. Their relationship would have many boundaries which could stop it from working. For one, they were from two different worlds, literally, and then there was the question of her powers. Once her powers came back, their physical intimacy would surely be affected in a way that he had never experienced before. He tried not to worry about these things right now, for in this moment, he just wanted to lie next to her and cherish her.

As he closed his eyes, the faint sound of a phone buzzing began to ring out. His phone was next to them on the coffee table, but he couldn't reach it. He peeked over and saw the caller ID – _J'onn J'onzz._ He needed to take it. He regretfully slid away from Kara, gently so as not to wake her, before picking up the phone and moving away before answering it.

"J'onn," said Oliver, as he answered the phone.

_"Oliver, we have a situation here in the DEO."_

"What's happening?"

_"The building has been placed on lockdown and we're all trapped inside. Clark, Nyssa, Alex, all of us."_

"What? How?"

_"When we broke into Stellmoor International, Lacroix planted a Trojan in the files which infiltrated our system as soon as we plugged the hard-drive into our computers. That's how he knew you were heading to Lian Yu. He has full access to the system, and has completely shut us out."_

"Can't you and Clark break out?"

_"This building was designed to take punishment from Kryptonians and Martians. It'll take us a while if we try. Winn can't get back into the system either. My main concern is not being stuck here. With full access to the system, Lacroix can set off the nuclear reactor powering the DEO. Clark and I would survive such a blast, but everybody else within a 10 block radius won't."_

Just as Oliver was about to speak up again, he started to receive another call. An encrypted number… Lacroix.

"Do whatever you can J'onn," said Oliver, before he hung up and answered the other caller.

He lifted the phone back up to his ear, not saying a single word as he waited to hear Lacroix's voice on the other side.

_"Oliver… I'm sure you've heard by now the predicament your friends have found themselves in."_

"Don't you dare set off that reactor!" scowled Oliver.

_"I don't think you're in a position to make demands. I asked for my totem, and you didn't give it to me."_

"It's somewhere safe. A place where you won't be able to get to it."

_"Oh, I'm sure. Which is why you're going to bring it to me… tonight."_

"I can't get to the totem tonight."

_"Make a plan… or else you'll be scraping through rubble for your friends' bodies in a few hours. I'll send you the location to come to soon."_

With those words, Oliver hung up the phone, and had to stop himself from throwing it to the floor out of anger. He clenched his teeth as he placed it into his pocket, turning around to see Kara fully awake.

"Oliver, what's-" He interrupted her as she was walking towards him, putting up a hand to signal her to stop.

"No, don't. Don't come any closer," he said in a panic.

"What?" she replied, shocked at his words.

"Don't. This was a mistake. Telling you how I feel. We can't be together."

She noticed his clearly agitated and unnerving behaviour, "Oliver, what's going on?" she asked, demanding an explanation.

"Lacroix has hacked into the DEO and placed it on lockdown. He's threatening to blow the nuclear reactor if he doesn't get the totem. J'onn, Winn, Roy, Alex, they're all trapped inside." Kara couldn't contain her shock, as she lifted her hands to cover her gaping mouth, "It's my fault that they're in there. That's why we can't be together."

"Oliver, not everything bad that happens is your fault," she replied adamantly.

"Kara, this is! All of this started because of me! We can't be together because everyone and everything that I love suffers because of me. Kara, I do not even live in this universe, yet in the short time that I have been here, I have caused dozens of lives to be lost. Kara, you were tortured because of me. You were nearly killed."

"Nearly, but I'm still here, Oliver. And Cadmus would have gotten to me anyway if they wanted."

"Kara, this is what you don't understand, I have already seen you die!" Those words from Oliver seemed to echo multiple times in Kara's loft. He noticed how they silenced her, stopping her from attempting to argue further. He realised that he hadn't mentioned Earth-1 Kara at all to her since he had been here, and he hated using her to justify what he was feeling, but it was the truth. "I know she wasn't you… But she had your face. And when I found you on that bed in that facility, you had the same look in your eyes that she had, seconds before she died. I don't want to see that happen again. I can't be responsible your death."

He and Kara were both fighting back tears at this point. Just as they had felt the universe had finally brought them to a place where they could accept their love for each other, Oliver had quickly been reminded of his failures to protect everyone else in his life.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"This started because of me. It ends with me too," said Oliver, his voice conveying the solemnness and desperation of a man at his wits end as he started to make his way to Kara's door, trying to avoid eye contact with her.

"I've already lost Mon-El. I can't lose you too," she said, prompting Oliver to stop in his tracks as she tried hard to not let her tears fall. He didn't turn to face her as he spoke his last words before leaving.

"There's only one way this ends… with an arrow through Lacroix's heart."


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With everybody's lives in the balance, Oliver confronts Lacroix, deciding to end this, once and for all.

Oliver Queen landed on the rooftop of the building on the outskirts of National City, the pebbles on the floor crunching under his boots as he cautiously took steps towards the man in the center of the rooftop. Simon Lacroix, in his Komodo suit, sans the hood and mask just like Oliver. With only one surrounding, unoccupied building exceeding their height, nobody would be able to witness the events about to take place. Oliver couldn't disguise his anger as he walked towards Lacroix, noting the despicable smile on his face.

"I hope you have what I asked for," said Lacroix, speaking first, "For the sake of your friends." Stopping several meters away from him, Oliver tossed the totem box to Lacroix's feet, refusing to give it to him by hand.

"You have what you want. Now let everyone in the DEO go!" demanded Oliver.

"I can see that patience isn't one of your strong suits," quipped Lacroix, as he knelt down and picked up the box, "First, I have to be sure that you're not lying to me."

"Then open the box," replied Oliver.

Lacroix scoffed at Oliver and smiled, before turning his attention to the metal casing he was holding in his hand. He flung his bow around his arm and over his shoulder to free his left hand. Running his fingers across the rivets on the side of the box, he slowly unlatched the locking mechanism, and waited.

Oliver's fingers twitched in anticipation as he watched Lacroix take his sweet time to open the container. He could almost feel the electrical impulses in his right arm telling it to whip back and nock an arrow. Perhaps Lacroix was anticipating a trap…

He was right.

As the lid to the box opened, it erupted, with the cracking sound of the explosion echoing into National City and the flames shooting high up into the air. Oliver quickly nocked an arrow and fired it right to where Lacroix's chest was before he knelt down and turned away, lifting an arm to shield himself from any debris. Several seconds passed, and Oliver looked back to where Lacroix's body would have been. The smoke from the explosion was still obscuring any visuals, but it slowly began to fade away, and Oliver was shocked to his core with the sight that confronted him.

Simon Lacroix, standing without a single scratch on him, holding the arrow that Oliver had shot.

This shouldn't be possible…

He began to laugh, almost out of pity that Oliver had failed to kill him.

"Oh, Oliver," he said mockingly, "Did you really think it would be that easy to kill me?"

As he finished his words, he dropped the arrow and advanced towards Oliver at an immeasurable speed, so fast that Oliver didn't have time to react before he felt his ribs being battered and the entire left side of his face being whacked. His brain rattled in his skull as he fell onto the floor, his face kissing the pebbles that lay beneath him. The speed of the strikes were so rapid that Oliver didn't even have time to register what they were before they connected, and the power behind them was so great that there wasn't even pain at first, it just felt as if his soul had been knocked out of his own body.

"You don't pay much attention, do you?" continued Lacroix, as he began to ominously circle Oliver's fallen body, "Did you think the only reason that I held Supergirl was to torture her? I mean, I did, but I thought you knew that a man like me… I'm a visionary. I see the bigger picture. With Supergirl's blood, I was able to perfect a bio-serum that I had been working on for quite some time. I call it… Venom. Now, I could tell you what it's done for me, but let me rather show you…"

As he finished his words, he knelt down and threw a punch straight into Oliver's abdomen, before picking him up and flinging him across the rooftop. Oliver was sure the punch cracked his ribs, as he groaned in agony while desperately trying to get back to his feet. He managed to rise onto a knee, but quickly felt Lacroix grab him by the collar and throw a left hook which knocked him to the ground once again, concussing him even further.

"Come on, Oliver," he said mockingly, "I gave you the opportunity to bring me what was rightfully mine. And yet, even with your friends' lives in the balance, you tried to be a hero. You should know that the heroes, don't always win."

He grasped Oliver by the collar once again, throwing a contemptuous elbow strike which sliced open Oliver's forehead, causing blood to run down the side of his face while Lacroix forcefully held his head up to look at him.

"Last chance… tell me where the totem is." Oliver could barely make out the words emanating from Lacroix's mouth, with his head spinning and his ears still ringing from the brutal strikes which he had absorbed. Still, no matter how much pain he was in, he would never submit to a man like Lacroix, and he remained silent.

"I tried to be civil, Oliver" continued Lacroix, "You know, I always had a golden rule: To never hurt a lady. Of course, I've had to make exceptions for that rule over the years, but even then, I never enjoyed having to raise a hand to a woman. But I must say, after I'm done with you, I am going to find her again, and I am going to enjoy making her scream for mercy. Supergirl, of course. Or should I say… Kara Danvers."

The mention of her name lit a fire in Oliver, as he despairingly threw punches at Lacroix's head, which barely even moved from the strikes. His hand began to hurt as he continued to throw laboured strikes at what felt like a steel pole. Lacroix retaliated by knocking Oliver to the ground with a right hook, the power of his single blow exceeding all of Oliver's by a multitude. He knew a man like Oliver would never give up, so he waited patiently for him to stand back up. He easily dodging the following laboured, desperate punches from Oliver, countering with another body strike before knocking Oliver back to the floor with another punch. This wasn't even a fight, it was an execution. A slow, painful execution. Oliver did not even have time to even attempt to get back to his feet with his sapped strength, as Lacroix turned him over and grasped his throat, hoisting him up in the air with one hand.

"Unfortunately for Kara, she's not going to have a quick, honourable death like you. I am going to have lots of fun with her…"

As much as Oliver tried, there was nothing he could do to break Lacroix's grip. He was beaten beyond recovery. The numbness in his muscles made his attempts to remove Lacroix's hand from his throat futile, yet he still hoped that he could break free, for Kara's sake. The image of Lacroix's wicked smile burned into his eyes, as his vision began to fade, and he felt his windpipe begin to crush…

* * *

Kara was trying her best to contain her emotion, as she attempted to stop the tears flowing from her eyes while sitting on the couch in her apartment. As soon as Oliver left, she had vomited blood once more, but still, her powers refused to manifest. She could do nothing while the man she loved went off on a suicide mission and the threat of death continued to loom over her friends in the DEO. Her loss of Mon-El was almost unbearable. If she were to lose Oliver and everybody in the DEO, then what more did she have to live for?

She asked Rao what she had done to deserve such agony and punishment. Her whole life, she had only tried to protect the innocent and be strong for the weak. What did she do to deserve losing her planet and the two men which she had so dearly loved? For her whole life, she has had to be hopeful in the face of despair, but right now, it was impossible to have any form of hope.

She knew that a hot chocolate could not lift her spirits, but she decided to get up and make a cup of it anyway. Alex always made the best hot chocolate, and Kara thought maybe drinking some now could give her a semblance of warmth. The kettle whistled as she reached out to the plastic sugar bowl on the kitchen island, but with her mind elsewhere, she failed to grip the container properly. It fell from her hands, with the lid separating upon impact on the floor, spilling the sugar.

She took a deep breath before kneeling down to clean it up, trying her best to contain her dread. She despairingly swept up the sugar with her hands, trying to place it back in the bowl. She could not contain her frustration any more as she slammed her first into the floor, hoping that she would punch straight through it, but without her powers, it remained unscathed. She started to tear up once again, closing her eyes as the awful feeling of helplessness started to amplify.

She thought she was going paranoid when she started to hear voices in her head, many of them all forming an incoherent rambling which she could not decipher… but then she realised something about the voices… they weren't in her head. She opened her eyes, focusing on her hands in front of her, which sat amongst the scattered sugar particles on the floor.

Slowly, but noticeably, the particles began to rise…

* * *

_"Unfortunately for Kara, she's not going to have a quick, honourable death like you. I am going to have lots of fun with her…"_

The evil words from Lacroix stung deep into Oliver's core as he continued to fight with the little strength he had left. He couldn't die here. Not for Kara, not for William, not for everybody else in his life. He could not accept that his death would be here, at the hands of someone like Simon Lacroix. However, there was nothing he could do, as the bio-enhanced hand of Lacroix's only continued to tighten around his throat. Just as Oliver's vision began to fade, and his windpipe began to crush…

Crack…

The sound of a massive boom emanated from the sky, echoing multiple times throughout National City. At first thought, one might have believed it to be a gunshot, or thunder, but it wasn't. It was a sonic boom, the sound of something… someone breaking the sound barrier. Lacroix whipped his head to the source of the sound, reacting too late as the red and blue blur thumped him in the chest, sending him flying across the rooftop.

Oliver dropped to the floor, grasping his throat while his vision returned, coughing deeply while he gasped for air. It took a couple of seconds for his blurry vision to clear up, as the image of the blonde woman in a red and blue suit, kneeling down next to him started to become clearer and clearer… Kara.

"It's okay, Oliver. It's me" she said, as she reassuringly placed her hand on his chest. Oliver could not help but smile at the sight of her back to full glory as the Girl of Steel. She almost glowed in front of him as she smiled back, looking beautiful in her Supergirl suit once again.

"Well, well, well. Look who's back!"

Kara's smile immediately disappeared as Lacroix spoke up, as she left Oliver's side to confront the man who caused her so much pain and suffering.

"How was your vacation? Where did you go, Ms Danvers? Bali? Kasnia?" teased Lacroix as he stood back up.

"It's over, Lacroix. You're done hurting innocent people!" replied Kara intensely.

"This isn't over. At least not from where I'm standing."

"Just because you have some super serum in your veins doesn't mean that you can beat me."

"Why don't we find out?" said Lacroix, as raised his hands to invite Kara to the challenge.

She had no intention of making this a long battle as she blasted her heat vision in his direction, hoping to incapacitate him. However, with his enhanced reflexes, he was able to dodge the beams as he ran towards her. Kara had no choice but to stop and engage in a fist fight as he neared her. She sped towards him, hoping to knock him out with a single blow to the face, but he was able to dodge her punch and return with counter-combinations of his own. The power behind his strikes hurt her, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. She had faced foes much more powerful than him before, but his speed and skill were giving her problems.

A skilled fighter herself, she was still nowhere nearly as skilled as Lacroix. This was a man who had twice before almost effortlessly beaten Oliver, who himself had nearly 10 years of training. If she was to win, her best chances would be to stop entertaining a hand to hand duel. She rose to the air, but he grabbed her leg just before she was out of reach, keeping her suspended in the air while he tried to pull her back to the ground. Taking advantage of both his hands being occupied, Kara saw the opportunity strike, and flew back towards him with a concrete-shattering punch right on the chest.

She had aimed for the jaw but Lacroix had shifted back at the last second to avoid taking the impact of the blow on his head. Had that punch connected, he surely would've been unconscious. She had knocked out a White Martian with that punch, Lacroix might not have survived it. She pinned him down before he could get up, and threw several more punches at his head, being driven by her disdain for what he had done to her in his laboratory. She stopped after five punches, fearing that she was about to kill him. However, she was shocked to see him still conscious, smiling back at her while he licked the blood from lips.

"You're not as strong as they say" he said, taunting her while trying to disguise his pain.

"You're a coward without honour" replied Kara.

"Honour is for fools" he scowled back.

"Honour is the only reason why you're not dead right now."

"And my lack of it, is why I'm going to kill you."

"You can't beat me without kryptonite, Lacroix" replied Kara, mockingly.

"I know."

As Lacroix finished his words, Kara moaned in pain as she felt her right leg being pierced. She turned to see a kryptonite flechette embedded in her thigh, and she too felt her strength start to wane as the kryptonite started to curse through her veins. Lacroix stunned her with a punch right to the nose before pushing her off and rising to his feet.

With Kara weakened and balancing on one leg, he was able to pummel her as he did Oliver. Her durability meant she could take more, but all that she appeared to him was a Kryptonian punching bag, as he rattled off combinations of kicks and punches, alternating between her body and head.

With Kara still standing after Lacroix threw almost everything at her, he realised he had to find another way to beat her as he caught a glimpse of his bow, lying just a couple of meters away from him. He grabbed Kara by her hair, pulling her face towards his and forcing her to look at him.

"How ironic. You came here to save him, and now you're both going to die together" said Lacroix, taunting her, "At least you'll once again be able to see that friend of yours who you were hallucinating about at my compound. What was his name again? Mon-El. I'm not sure he'll be glad to see you, given how you'd moan about how you were responsible for his death. Nonetheless, tell him I said hi."

As he finished his words, he threw a bone-breaking punch into Kara's gut, with the sheer force propelling her into the air, sending her flying across the rooftop. With Oliver having regained enough strength to sit up, he watched as Kara's body floated in the air, appearing to be moving in slow-motion. He turned his attention to Lacroix, who he saw pick up his bow and fire an arrow. The glowing, green tip of the arrow caught Oliver's eye, but there was nothing he could do as he watched the arrow travel in the air, edging closer and closer until it pierced through Kara's stomach, just before she dropped to the floor.

"No…"

The words of denial were all that Oliver could mutter before the adrenaline rush of anger rose inside of him again, as he quickly got to his feet and fired a flashbang arrow at Lacroix. Lacroix caught the arrow, but that only worsened the consequences for him as it exploded right in his eyes, blinding him. Oliver fired another arrow, an explosive one, using it to send Lacroix flying away, momentarily incapacitating him with the shockwave of the combustion.

He immediately turned his attention back to Kara, dropping down on a knee next to her, letting go of his bow and instead cradling her face with both of his hands. She was still alive, but Oliver could not shake the fact that the look in her eyes was the same look that Earth-1 Kara had, right before she died.

"Kara… Don't worry, you're going to be fine" he said, as he turned his attention to the arrow lodged in her stomach. She stopped him, placing her hand on his cheek to make him turn back to face her.

"I'm sorry, Oliver…" said Kara, the words whimpering out of her mouth.

"No… Don't apologise…" insisted Oliver, as he fought to keep the tears from running down his face, his mind continuing to fear the worst as the conversation eerily mirrored the one he had with Earth-1 Kara before she died.

"No, you don't understand… My right boot… Inside" she said, not being able to reach for it herself. Oliver quickly turned to the boot, pulling it back slightly before he found what Kara was asking him to look for. The Arrow Totem. She must have retrieved it from the Fortress before she came here. He unfastened the chain strapping it to her leg, grasping it tightly in his hands as he picked it up, "I should have told you that I brought it."

"It's okay, it doesn't matter" replied Oliver, comforting her.

"You…" The words were struggling to come out of her mouth, "You have to use it… To beat him."

"Kara, no… I can't" replied Oliver immediately, "I'm not the man you think I am. If I use it, my darkness will take over."

"It won't. There's so much light inside of you, yet you always fail to see it… I believe in you… Ollie."

Oliver could do nothing but reciprocate the breath-taking smile she gave him. He didn't deserve her. Not one bit, but she was there for him. If there was anybody who could inspire him to rise above his darkness, it was her. He knelt down, kissing her forehead before he turned his attention back to the totem in his right hand. The silver arrowhead pendant began to glow as Oliver closed his eyes, allowing its power to enter him.

Visions of his life began to manifest in front of him… The darkness being the first thing to come to the fore…. Visions of the deaths of everyone he had lost… His parents, Shado, Tommy, Laurel, Earth-1 Kara…

His devilish deeds over the years came back to plunge him further into the shadows of his immorality… Taking Slade's eye, murdering Palmer Cokes, skinning a man…

Adrian Chase, Ra's Al Ghul, Damien Darhk, Malcolm Merlyn… the men who had destroyed his life in so many ways reappearing once again to beat Oliver into acceptance that there was too much darkness inside of him…

"Rise above it, Ollie. Rise above the darkness…"

Kara's voice next to him sparked the change, the snap to the light.

The demonic images began to fade as the greatest parts of his life took over his mind, his fondest memories… Holding baby Thea for the first time, meeting Felicity, meeting William, having drinks with Diggle, game nights on Earth-38, playing darts with Mon-El… Everything good in his life inspiring him to rise above his darkness, ending with his most recent memory… him with Kara, in her loft, sharing a kiss…

The visions dissipated as Oliver was brought back to reality, abruptly opening his eyes. He looked down at his hands, watching the green energy emitting from the totem travel up to his eyes, being absorbed. Having risen above his darkness, he now felt the power of a god surging through every vein in his body as his previous injuries no longer began to ache. He rose back up to his feet, laser-focused and determined to put an end to this madness as he turned to face where Lacroix was.

Simon Lacroix stumbled back to his feet, still rubbing his eyes, trying to recuperate his vision. He stared in disbelief as clear became the image of Oliver Queen, holding the Arrow Totem, his glowing green eyes piercing into his soul.

"No… No! You don't deserve its power!" he screamed in anger.

Oliver placed the totem in a flechette holster before he and Lacroix began charging at each other, two titans ready to collide. As they neared, Lacroix threw the first punch at Oliver. He could not contain the shock on his face as Oliver caught the punch, staring at Lacroix with a stone-cold expression before throwing a vicious punch of his own, sending him reeling backwards.

Not even the Venom-enhanced Lacroix could keep up with newfound ferocity and power of Oliver Queen, as he savagely began to beat Lacroix with all of his strength. Grabbing him by the neck, Oliver wrapped him in a Thai clinch before battering his mid-section with knees, ending the exchange with an elbow to his head. He attacked almost every part of Lacroix's body, kicking his legs, kneeing his ribs and punching his head. Behind every strike, the karma for what Lacroix had done to Kara. If it were not for the Venom having enhanced his attributes, the power behind these strikes would have ended Lacroix's life. The crack of his ribs were audible as Oliver threw a devastating roundhouse kick to his abdomen, causing Lacroix to drop to a knee, crouching over in agony.

A split-second of hesitation to land the final blow from Oliver was enough for Lacroix to capitalise from the mistake, as he swiftly drew a knife, slashing Oliver's leg before thrusting the knife into his abdomen. Oliver groaned in pain, feeling like was human once again for the first time since having wielded the powers of the totem.

"The Totem is my destiny!" screamed Lacroix, as he stood up and continued the fight, having been bolstered by the sight of Oliver Queen being in a state of affliction once more.

Lacroix threw a vicious kick at the stab wound, having purposely perforated Oliver on the same side where he had broken his ribs earlier. One kick, and another, and another, and another. Despite Oliver's best attempts at blocking the strikes, the tenacity of Lacroix's strikes made it feel as if the power was travelling through his forearms towards his wounds. The combined pain of the puncture and his broken ribs caused him to stagger back, crouching as he moved away from Lacroix. Despite the affliction clouding his thoughts, Oliver managed to concoct a new counter-strategy to his adversary in the moment. With each strike, Lacroix grew bolder and more confident. All Oliver had to do was to reel him in, withstand the pain until Lacroix threw an overzealous, impractical strike which could be countered.

So Oliver waited… groaning as he absorbed the power of another kick to his abdomen, grunting as the cut in his hairline split open further with a left hook to his temple. He didn't have to wait any longer for his opportunity to strike…

There was no technique to Lacroix's attack, as he twisted his whole body to wind the right overhand punch up with enough power to knock out a rhino. He swung with every fibre of power in his being, only to find himself stumble forward when Oliver slipped under the punch at the last millisecond.

Oliver reacted expeditiously as he ducked under the punch, swiftly drawing the Arrow Totem from its holster while Lacroix faltered towards him. Rising up, Oliver grabbed him by the neck, pulling him close, before driving the totem into his chest… straight through his heart. He whipped his head back to throw three vicious head-butts, the final strikes of the fight, being driven purely by anger.

Oliver's glowing green eyes shone brightly as he stared at Lacroix, seeing the face of a broken, defeated, dying man. Oliver twisted the totem slowly, causing Lacroix more agony before pulling it out and letting him drop to the floor. The remorseless expression on Oliver's face let Lacroix know he would have never gotten mercy, for a man like him didn't deserve it. With his abdomen aching greatly, Oliver clutched it as he limped away from Lacroix's twitching body.

He limped back to Kara, who was still lying on the floor. He was relieved to see her having removed the arrow from her stomach, and she smiled at him as he came up next to her.

"You did it," she said.

"No… _We_ did it."

Oliver could not disguise his groans as he knelt down next to her, helping her back to her feet. They turned to look back at Lacroix, the twitching of his hands having now stopped as his lifeless body lay on the floor unceremoniously. Oliver and Kara both turned to look at each other before they placed their heads against each other's affectionately, for they both knew that the war was finally over.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the war against Komodo and Cadmus over, the heroes of Earth-38 bid farewell to Slade, Nyssa and Roy.

_**(The DEO – 12:27)** _

Several hours after the battle, Winn had managed to regain control of the system and eliminate the trojan. Oliver and Kara were now back at the DEO, with Kara having fully recovered from her injuries due to the bright midday sun and Oliver having recovered due to the enhanced regeneration that the totem had provided him. With their job now fully done, Slade, Nyssa and Roy had packed their bags and were preparing themselves for the return to Earth-1. Kara, James, Clark, J'onn, Winn, Alex and even Lady Shiva, all gathered in the center of the DEO to bid the heroes of Earth-1 goodbye.

"I can't thank the four of you enough for helping us," said J'onn, "You came here to help us find Kara, and even when we did, you stayed to fight a war which you did not have to. We are all eternally grateful for what you've done for Kara, and for the people of this Earth."

"The DEO is going to feel a little empty without you guys here," joked Winn.

"Don't worry. I'm sure there'll be another crisis soon which will bring us back here," replied Roy.

"Rao, I hope not," joked Kara, causing them all to laugh a little before the goodbyes officially began. The friendships formed were tangibly visible as jovial hugs and the handshakes were shared amongst them, although Oliver distinctly held himself back, allowing Roy, Nyssa and Slade to greet everybody. Oliver watched intently as Slade greeted Lady Shiva, telling her to take care of herself before giving her a hug. It took a lot to convince Slade to hug someone, and that action from Slade cemented in Oliver's mind that he had finally managed to rid himself of the guilt of Shado's death. Once they had finished greeting the others, they all quickly realised that Oliver had hung back.

"Aren't you coming with us?" asked Roy, as he approached Oliver.

"I think I'm going to stay for a little longer. I still have to sort out a couple of things," said Oliver, as he glanced at Kara and smiled, who shyly smiled back at him.

"Oh, ok. I might not see you when you get back, so… It was great being by your side again," said Roy, appreciatively.

"The pleasure was all mine, Roy," said Oliver, as they shook hands before Roy made way for Slade to greet Oliver, "I do intend on keeping my promise to help you find Joe," said Oliver to Slade.

"Don't worry about him, kid. Enjoy these moments of bliss while you can. They usually don't last long in our lives," said Slade, before he stepped away for Nyssa.

"Oliver," she said, surprising him with the use of his name.

"Not calling me husband anymore?" asked Oliver jokingly.

"Only for now, to not upset Kara," she joked too, turning to wink at Kara before she joined Slade and Roy. Oliver pulled out the extrapolator from one of his pockets, and opened a breach back to Earth-1.

"Bye guys," said Alex cheerfully, waving as the heroes from Earth-1 returned to their world. Oliver waited for a couple of more seconds before speaking up.

"What is the status on Cadmus?" he asked.

"Well, with Lacroix outed as Komodo, we've got full access to his office and the Stellmoor International mainframe servers," explained J'onn.

"Between those two things, we'll be able to track down everything supplied to Cadmus and will be able to stop them from getting their hands on any more weapons or funds. They're going to go dark again, pretty soon," added Winn. Oliver nodded, relieved to hear that Cadmus won't be hurting any more innocents any time soon, "Hey, the Girl of Steel is back!" continued Winn, bellowing cheerfully, "Everyone in National City is going to be happy to see you again."

"Of course, but I think they can wait. After what happened last night, I think you can take another day off. Both of you," said J'onn, as he looked at both Kara and Oliver.

"What are you going to do now?" asked Oliver to Lady Shiva.

"It depends. What do you plan on doing with the totem?" she asked Oliver. He pondered on what the fate of such an artifact should be, as he pulled it out from his pocket and gazed on it. The powers it granted were phenomenal, and the enlightenment it provided was intoxicating, but Oliver had never ever thought of keeping it permanently. He had overcome his darkness once, but he knew that he would not be able to do such forever.

"We destroy it," said Oliver, "This totem has caused enough suffering and pain. It's for the best if it no longer exists." They watched as Oliver closed his eyes, concentrating intensely for a few seconds before his eyes opened again, allowing the power of the totem to leave his body and find its way back to the pendant. It took a second before the green glowing energy in his eyes faded, as he handed the totem to Clark, "Throw it into the sun."

"Well, with Lacroix dead, and the totem set to be destroyed, my crusade is done," she said.

"We could use a woman of your skills here in the DEO," suggested Alex, but Lady Shiva scoffed at the idea.

"I appreciate the offer, but the DEO isn't really my type," she replied, "I have a niece in Hong Kong, Emiko. I haven't seen her in years, but now, because of all of you, I'll finally be able to meet with her once again. Thank you."

"We can have you on a flight to Hong Kong as soon as you want," said J'onn, "How much longer do you plan on staying?" asked J'onn to Oliver.

"Not much longer," replied Oliver.

"Well, in that case…" replied J'onn, as he held out his hand for Oliver, "Thank you."

"Like I said before, you don't ever have to thank me," replied Oliver, who turned his attention to Clark next.

"For the record, I do notice that you puff your chest out whenever you're around me," said Clark humourously, causing Oliver to chuckle as they shook hands before moved towards James.

"You've improved a lot over the past few months," said Oliver to James.

"Well, I've had good teachers. One of them being you," replied James appreciatively.

"Please tell me you're going to leave the recipe for your chilli," said Alex as Oliver approached her.

"It's my secret recipe so, no. Unfortunately," replied Oliver as he hugged Alex.

"Unfortunate for Alex, fortunate for the rest of us," quipped Winn, causing everyone to giggle as he shook hands with Oliver.

"Keep being yourself, Winn. Just keep being yourself," said Oliver with a smile, repeating what he said to Winn the last time he had left for Earth-38. Finally, he found himself in front of Lady Shiva.

"If it weren't for you, I don't think my crusade would ever have ended. So, xiè xie," she said, thanking him in Mandarin.

"Well, if it weren't for the Shado of my Earth, I wouldn't be here right now. So I guess in some ways, I should be thanking you," replied Oliver, smiling at her. As the goodbyes came to an end, Oliver eyed down the people of Earth-38 who he now called his friends. In truth, they weren't friends… they had become almost like family to him. Clark, a heroic equal… J'onn, a father-figure… Winn, an annoying but affectionate younger brother… Alex, an older sister and finally, Kara, the woman he loves, who has helped him become the best version of himself.

"Alright, let's get back to work!" said J'onn, "Except you two," he said, pointing at Oliver and Kara, "I mean it when I say take the day off," he said, smiling before he and Winn headed back to the control hub, while Clark burst into flight out of the DEO and James headed for the elevator. Alex remained put, rather calling Kara to come speak to her.

"Hey," said Alex, as she pulled Kara away, "So… you and Oliver?"

"Yeah, we… we finally told each other how we really felt, and it was great, but… I'm not sure if I'm ready for it yet."

"Kara, I just want you to be happy, okay?" replied Alex, before she pulled her sister in for a tight hug, "Love you, sis."

"Love you too," replied Kara, as she let go of Alex and walked back to Oliver, "So… where to?" asked Kara.

"Your apartment?" suggested Oliver.

"My apartment it is," replied Kara, smiling as she grabbed Oliver by the waist and burst off into flight.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Kara discuss their future before Oliver returns to Earth-1.

Oliver had already showered and changed into civilian clothes at the DEO, and waited patiently for Kara to do the same while he stared out the windows of her apartment. Although she had her powers back, she took her time in the shower, perhaps using the time as an opportunity to reflect and unwind, given how rough the past two weeks have been. Oliver enjoyed the view of National City from the window one last time. Now that everything was over, he knew he was going to be back on Earth-1 soon and that it would be a while before he was back here on Earth-38. Soon, he'd be sifting through hundreds of documents in his mayoral office, with Kara distant from him once again. He was savouring these moments because Slade was right, they never lasted long. He had already packed his bags, and was just waiting to speak with Kara one final time before he left.

"Hey."

He turned around to face Kara, having finished her shower and used her superspeed to dress into a grey blouse and dry her hair.

"Hey," he replied, smiling warmly at her.

"Can we talk? About what happened between us?" she requested.

"Sure."

"Oliver… First, I know I don't need to say it, but I love you. I love you and I want to be with you, but… there's so much between us. We live in different universes and I'm kryptonian and you're human and…" She stopped herself, cutting her own words short. The sympathetic look on Oliver's face told her that he knew what she was about to say.

"Mon-El…" said Oliver, finishing her words for her, and drawing an uneasy nod from Kara.

"I know he's not here, but my love for him is still deep, and there is a part of me which makes me feel like I'd be betraying him right now if I'm with you. I know it might be hard for you to understand…" Her words were cut short by Oliver.

"No, no, it's fine, I understand," he said with a smile, "When my Kara died, it… it sent me on a spiral too. It took me years before I even tried to love again, but you're already trying. It just shows how much better you are than me."

"There you go, being too hard on yourself again," replied Kara humorously.

"Well, it's one of my superpowers," joked Oliver, causing him and Kara to giggle together, "I was wrong about what I said… what happened wasn't a mistake. The enlightenment of the totem showed me a lot, and one of the things it showed me, was that I can't live without you in my life. It also reminded me of my darkness, and how it infects everybody in my life, but I was able to rise above it… because of you, and I would not have been able to do that without you. So I know that there's a lot between us, but I'm willing to give it a shot, if you are."

"I am… but I don't think I'm ready yet. I just need a little more time."

"That's okay," replied Oliver compassionately, "I'll wait for you."

"Thank you. I promise you, when I am ready, I will come to you."

"I look forward to that day."

With those words, Oliver and Kara pulled each other in close for a tight hug. As their bodies separated from the embrace, Oliver lifted his hands to her cheeks and Kara raised her head towards his, placing her lips on his softly. The whiskery of his goatee faintly brushed against her smooth cheeks as they tenderly kissed. As their lips unlocked, Oliver gazed into Kara's glistening eyes.

"Don't cry. If you cry, you're going to make me cry," he joked, as his eyes began to water too.

"Ok, I won't," she said, giggling with him as she quickly wiped her eyes, "I just hate goodbyes."

"Don't worry, I have a feeling that we're going to see each other again soon," replied Oliver, before he moved his head forward once more, this time kissing her forehead before he moved to pick up his two bags. He took out the extrapolator as he began the walk to the center of her apartment, stopping to turn and face Kara one more time.

"See you around, Ollie," she said.

"See you around."

Kara watched once again as he stepped through the breach, returning to his world. Tears did start to fall down her cheeks, but they were not tears of sadness. She could not have been more grateful to have someone like Oliver in her life. She was not ready for his love right now, but someday soon, she would be, and their amazing relationship would finally be able to blossom into something even more beautiful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End :)
> 
> Now, firstly, I have to once again give a HUGE thank you to my beta for this story, Kara Smoak on ao3 and FFN. Honestly, without her help, this story wouldn't have been half as good. She helped me make this story so much bigger and better than what I originally had planned. And also, thank you to those who have not only read this story, but have been following since the first LOY story.
> 
> Secondly, I know what most of you are probably thinking: Is there going to be a 4th story in the LOY series? Truthfully, the short answer is "I don't know", but let me explain it like this:
> 
> I was inspired to write this series by a post made by @danversqueen on IG (She goes by 'whenfictioncalls' here on ao3, and she's a great writer. Check her out). Her post inspired me to write part one, and then I decided to turn it into a series by incorporating certain things I'd have liked to have seen between Oliver and the characters of Earth-38 (the basis of the second story) and then Oliver and Kara finally getting together (the basis for the third story).
> 
> Now, I never planned for the Love of Yesterday series to be a trilogy, but I feel like I've made peace with the series with this third story. This doesn't mean that you won't see a 4th story, it's just that I've basically only envisioned the series up until this point. So, while a 4th story is not impossible, it's unlikely for the foreseeable future. That is why I've written the ending to be a bit open-ended about the future of Oliver and Kara's relationship. 
> 
> Also, I'm working on another story right now, and it will be up soon. It's an Arrow-focused story, but other heroes (Barry, Kara, Sara) will make appearances. It will have a SuperArrow element to it too, so keep your eyes open for it within the next week.
> 
> With that out of the way, I hope you guys enjoyed the story! Please leave a review on the story as a whole if possible, and if you desperately want to see a 4th LOY story, let me know what you'd like to see it be about (except a Crisis on Earth-X re-write).


End file.
